The IDC Hub, based in Tshwane, the administrative Capital of South Africa, will focus on Virtual Reality-based knowledge transfer that addresses vocational skills training and education needs.

IRVINE, CA, August 28, 2015 – EON Reality Inc., the world leader in Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment, and the City of Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) Metropolitan Municipality have partnered to establish the new Tshwane Interactive Digital Center (IDC) in South Africa. The IDC will focus on the creation of Virtual Reality applications that accelerate vocational skills development, enhance STEM education, and nurture entrepreneurship in South Africa and neighboring countries.

The Tshwane IDC will be EON Reality’s first IDC on mainland Africa, and the second to focus on education and vocational skills development.

Virtual Reality South Africa Tshwane Icube Vocational Training
Left: Tshwane is the Capital City of South Africa Right: The Center will build 3D development skills and content that will addresses vocational skills development and STEM

Through collaboration with other South African governmental departments as well as local industry, the Tshwane IDC Hub will support the City of Tshwane’s Tshepo 10 000 programme, and its Vision 2055 Strategy to revive South Africa’s Capital City. VR applications developed by the Tshwane Hub will focus on vocational knowledge transfer aimed at breaking the cycle of generational poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment in the region. At the same time, the IDC will give local companies a new competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

“Countries around the globe are looking for answers on how to teach students more efficiently, effectively, and at a lower cost” said Dan Lejerskar, Chairman of EON Reality. “We’re extremely excited to partner with the City of Tshwane to expand EON Reality’s vocational training and educational offerings through South Africa. With a center that is focused on education, EON Reality will help countries, through Augmented and Virtual Reality-based knowledge transfer, to find better ways of educating their citizens and to shape their future workforce.”

EON Reality’s Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies are uniquely positioned to help Tshwane improve the lives of its citizens. VR and AR technology is based on learning by doing, which turns learning into showing how to perform a task rather than telling. Engaged, visual learning is crucial to improving the skills of Tshwane’s multi-lingual population, and especially to those who come from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

Virtual Reality South Africa Tshwane Jason Ngobeni Dan Lejerskar
Left: Tshwane City Manager, Jason Ngobeni, Dumisani Otumile and Melissa Vere of the City of Tshwane with Dan Lejerskar (EON Reality) and Dave Lockwood and Lucett Ramokgopa (the Naledi3d Factory). Right: Tshwane City Manager, Jason Ngobeni and Dan Lejerskar, Chairman of EON Reality

“Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer will be crucial to the future of education in South Africa, particularly in Tshwane. As a Capital City, Tshwane is often confronted with difficult policy choices given the limited financial resources and competing service delivery needs. To this end, the City has taken a policy position to prioritize investments linked to education and development of young people. This explains our quest for state of the art technologies that assists the City to ignite excellence when delivering services. The Interactive Digital Center will propel vocational skills training and development to unprecedented levels in South Africa” said Dumisani Otumile, Group Chief Information Officer for the City of Tshwane.

“Our partnership with EON Reality will ensure that Tshwane, and South Africa remains on the forefront of innovation, and represents an investment in the future of our City and our citizens” said Tshwane City Manager, Jason Ngobeni.

“The introduction of VR solutions will promote optimum participation in the mainstream economy of our country, which will be vital for rapid economic growth” said Tshwane IDC Project Manager, Aubrey Mpenyana.

Virtual and Augmented Reality based Knowledge transfer comes to Tshwane’s and South Africa’s learning communities as a part of the EON Learn for Life Program. This program brings the transformative power of EON Reality’s VR and AR Knowledge Transfer solutions to less-developed communities and regions around the world.

EON Reality is proud to welcome the new Tshwane IDC into the world’s largest Virtual Reality development network and the EON Reality family of IDC’s. The Tshwane IDC is slated to open in late 2015 or early 2016.

About the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
Also known as the City of Tshwane, the metropolitan municipality is the administrative seat of Government in South Africa and also the ‘diplomatic capital’, with over 130 diplomatic missions and 26 international organizations represented in South Africa – second only to Washington DC.

Tshwane is working on its Tshwane 2055 Vision, which defines how the City will develop and grow towards a becoming a “Smart City”, where effective investments are made in human and social capital, transport, utilities and modern ICT systems. These define the elements that fuels sustainable economic development and a high quality of life.

The City covers 6 368km², stretching 120 km from east to west and 108 km north to south, which makes it the third-largest city in the world in terms of land area, after New York and Tokyo/Yokohama. For further information, visit www.tshwane.gov.za

About EON Reality
EON Reality is the world leader in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment.

EON Reality’s success is tied to its belief that knowledge is a human right and should be available, accessible, and affordable for every human on the planet. To carry this out, EON Reality, since 1999, has developed the de-facto standard for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes.

EON Reality’s global app development network, with twenty-two locations worldwide, has created the world’s leading AR/VR library for knowledge transfer with over 7,000 applications. Over 36 million people worldwide have downloaded these applications. For further information, visit www.eonreality.com.