Flemish company launches “Spotify for students”
Signpost België has developed a system whereby students can legally and cheaply download software they need for their studies, which is putting a halt to illegal downloads
“Win-win situation”
Calling it “Spotify for students”, the platform was developed to prevent students from downloading cheap or free illegal software they need for their studies, such as engineering or graphic design programmes. Student pay €29 a year for access to software via Signpost, an enormous savings over often expensive software programmes.
The service has already been tested during this academic year by 5,500 students at the University College West Flanders (HoWest). A software kit was assembled for each programme of study.
HoWest general director Lode Degeyter expressed his enthusiasm. “It ensures that youngsters don’t give up a certain study, such as graphic design, because they are afraid they can’t afford the expensive software,” he said.
HoWest is closely monitoring the use of legal software. Students who can’t demonstrate that they use legal software risk not getting their diploma.
Signpost now wants to spread the system across Flanders. “It’s a win-win-win situation for students, schools and software publishers,” said Arne Vandendriessche, operational director at Signpost. “We are now ready to implement this at other educational institutions.”
