The Role of EdTech-Companies in the Digitalization of Education: A Foreign Perspective

Based on an analytical review of a large number of scientific studies by European economic sociologists on the digitalization of education, this article shows the role of Edtech companies in the Western world today. Accord-ing to Western sources, Edtech companies act as experts in determining the necessary knowledge and skills of employees in the face of rapidly changing labor market requirements. Edtech companies, acting in tandem with analytical agencies, are able to create narratives about the future, the vector of which is set by investors of Edtech companies, acting in their own private interests, which do not always meet the interests of society as a whole. These approaches are used to create profitable educational products with high demand. The author comes to the conclusion that the ability to see the future development of the labor market and the necessary competencies depends not on the quality of predictive analytics and structural changes in the economy, but on understanding the choice of the direction of investments of Edtech-companies in the digital educational market, designed to provide long-term high returns to their owners, which requires scientific expertise of the content they generate and public control over their activities such companies.