Academy Xi COO Cyril Gabriel on copyright compliance, their plans for the year ahead and Copyright Agency’s new rate card for private education providers

November 23, 2023

Copyright Agency recently made some changes to our Statutory Education Licence rate card for private education providers. The changes take effect from 1 January 2024, and you can read more about them here. The feedback from the sector relating to the changes has been overwhelmingly positive.

We sat down last week with Cyril Gabriel – Chief Operations Officer of tech training provider Academy Xi – and spoke about copyright compliance, our new rate card and the exciting pipeline of developments for their institution in 2024.

Q: Please tell us a little about yourself, your institution and the courses that you offer.

I’ve recently been appointed as the COO from a CFO role with Academy Xi. I have over 20 years’ experience working in various sectors in key leadership positions. I have been a finalist at the Australian CFO awards for 2 years in a row. I have previously worked in companies like Convergint, Prosys, VFS Global, Lloyds, AMP and Ford.

Founded in 2016, Academy Xi is a leading digital skills transformation company.

We partner with organisations and individuals to build the skills and capabilities required to thrive in a rapidly changing digital world. We are experts in online learning for digital professionals, delivering programs to more than 3,000 professionals each year.

Our product portfolio is designed to drive successful digital transformation, spanning human-centred design, technology and data and digital business. Our most popular and flagship course is the UX program. We have a 98% job placement rate after graduation for all successful students going through our programs.

We have built our reputation on expert instructors, exceptional online resources and real-world projects that ensure our clients and graduates have what it takes to succeed.

Q: Why is copyright compliance important to Academy Xi?

We take our legal and ethical obligations very seriously at Academy Xi and being copyright compliant is an important piece of this. We believe that maintaining a high level of copyright compliance contributes to our excellent reputation in the sector and assists us with building trust amongst students and the broader industry.

Q: How has the Statutory Education Licence impacted the teaching and learning experience at Academy Xi?

Instructors use a variety of materials to enrich their teaching resources and offer students a more comprehensive educational experience. Given the licence allows our instructors to take text and images from any source in the world, this sourcing flexibility provides real benefits to our students. In using materials under the licence, Academy Xi saves on costs that would otherwise be associated with purchasing individual licences for copyrighted materials or paying royalties.

Q: Have you encountered any challenges or issues related to copyright in your institution, and if so, how have you addressed them?

Luckily, we haven’t so far. We value the importance of copyright compliance and have a long-standing partnership with Copyright Agency. This helps us to mitigate such risks and provides us with valuable knowledge around copyright compliance including regular updates to any statutory requirements.

Q: How does Academy Xi stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices in education?

Academy Xi partners and works closely with other institutions and is a member of several professional associations which helps us stay abreast of all things education. Apart from that we keenly collaborate with other institutions in fostering best practices in education through workshops, conferences etc.

Given Academy Xi’s focus on design, tech and innovation, we are always close to the relevant industry which is what sets us apart from other institutions. We are also big on ensuring our instructors receive the best support through ongoing training and research in the courses we offer. We also have a robust feedback system through our students, faculty and staff to identify areas of improvements in our programs which makes our courses always current and relevant and our students job ready.

Q: Copyright Agency’s new Statutory Education Licence rate card is launching from 1 January 2024 for all private education providers, including Academy Xi. What else is your institution looking forward to in the coming year?

I think it is a great move with Copyright Agency’s new tiered rate card, this gives institutions flexibility in the plan they choose while remaining compliant.

Academy Xi is in its growth path with various items on our agenda including a new business – AI futures Academy focused on enhancing AI in the education space leveraging our internal capabilities and through partnership with various organisations. We will also be reviewing our content and have plans to bring on more courses to bridge the digital skills gap in Australia.

We are also building our enterprise capability in providing a platform for Australian businesses to help their teams upskill, reskill or transform their careers. With skills shortages across various sectors we believe this would have a great impact and add value to all businesses with employee retention and satisfaction.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

We have some great offers available for Cyber Monday week including great new course launches in the Cyber Security space. Unlock your future today and start shaping tomorrow!

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Thanks Cyril!

Academy Xi has a current Statutory Education Licence agreement with Copyright Agency.