Austin, TX, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading education technology solutions provider Lightspeed Systems (“Lightspeed” or “the Company"), announced today that is has appointed Learie Hercules to the newly created position of Vice President (“VP”) of Data & Analytics. As an industry expert, Mr. Hercules will further the Company’s mission of protecting students and optimizing 1:1 technology programs to meet the growing needs of the K-12 education market.
In his new role, Mr. Hercules will be responsible for driving continued innovation and adoption of Lightspeed’s Analytics product as well as incorporating actionable data into other components of the Company’s Relay platform, including web filtering, student safety monitoring, classroom management and device management. Lightspeed’s Analytics product, the current version of which was launched in 2019, pulls together all usage information for devices, apps, applications, and online resources into a single, actionable dashboard so schools can draw insights and maximize their return on investment. Mr. Hercules will also ensure all practices across the Company continue to adhere to strict student data privacy protection requirements.
“Since our founding we have recognized the power of data to help protect students and optimize their learning environments – it is the backbone of our services and solutions offerings – as well as the responsibility we have to protect student data privacy,” said Brian Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Lightspeed Systems. “As the market-leading filtering platform for U.S. schools, we are in a unique position to empower schools with the data that can help save students’ lives and drive safer and more effective use of technology. Learie brings significant experience and a reputation for helping technology firms use data to enhance the value customers receive from their solutions, and we look forward to his immediate contributions in leading the important effort to ensure schools are making informed decisions about their edtech and that students and their data are safe.”
Mr. Hercules joins Lightspeed with decades of leadership experience in big data and growing software as a service (“SaaS”) platform businesses. Most recently, he served as the VP Product Development at Global Traffic Technologies, LLC, a public safety company where he oversaw the company’s strategic vision, roadmap and development related to data, defining products and features that employed data analytics to optimize public safety and transit. Previously, he served as Head of Product – IQI within the AT&T Big Data division and founded Octavia Technologies, a telecom engineering company addressing the wireless connectivity space.
“I have built my career guided by the belief that technology can be used to enrich our lives and I look forward to applying my experience and relationships to furthering Lightspeed’s important mission of protecting students around the globe,” said Mr. Hercules. “I am eager to help capture Lightspeed’s significant growth potential and maximize the benefits of our Analytics platform to enhance student safety and build on the Company’s leading track record.”
Mr. Hercules graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of the West Indies, and holds an advanced certificate in Agile Development, Virtualization & Cloud Computing from the University of California, Berkeley.
About Lightspeed Systems
Lightspeed Systems partners with schools to make learning safe, mobile and easily managed. Partnered with 6,500 districts in the United States and 28,000 schools around the world, Lightspeed Systems offers integrated filtering, management, monitoring, and protection for schools through its groundbreaking platform, Relay. Headquartered in Austin, TX (with offices in Portland and the U.K.), Lightspeed serves over 15 million students in 35 countries. To learn more, visit https://www.lightspeedsystems.com