There are generally two types of visionaries, those who address problems that currently exist and those who anticipate problems and seek solutions.
You’ll likely not find a better example of the latter than in our community.
Nine years ago, a group of four international Mississippi State students — Rahul Gopal, Hiten Patel, Perceus Mody from India and Katja Walter from Germany, working out of the university’s business incubator building at the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park launched CampusKnot.
There wasn’t much fanfare attached to the students’ work back then. The idea was to use mobile devices and online platforms to complement classroom learning or, in some cases, provide an alternative to the traditional classroom learning.
While CampusKnot secured its first major funding in 2015, including money from the state legislature to create a pilot program in Mississippi K-12 schools in 2019, few could have grasped its importance prior to 2020.
The arrival of COVID-19 made the software that CampusKnot developed not merely a supplemental tool for education, but an essential means of providing education when in-person teaching was not an option.
When schools were forced to provide education virtually, CampusKnot became a go-to resource for schools everywhere.
By April 2020, just a few months into the pandemic, CampusKnot was inundated with inquiries as schools through the U.S. and in other countries desperately sought virtual-learning options.
Earlier this month, Gov. Tate Reeves awarded CampusKnot $475,000 in COVID education relief funds, money the company will use to expand and refine its products to meet the evolving needs in education.
CampusKnot has become the gold standard for the type of software that has become vital in modern education.
It traces its roots not to Silicon Valley, as might have been expected, but to our community.
That should be a source of pride and inspiration for our young people.
At a time when our best and brightest are all too eager to leave us for better opportunities, the story of CampusKnot reminds us that we can do great things right here at home.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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