TALKING POINT

The latest generation of interactive whiteboards is easier to use, better connected and more useful in classrooms and meeting rooms. Levert Fisher, Product Marketing Manager at Ricoh South Africa, says this reflects a shift from standalone presentation equipment to shared digital workspaces.

That change is helping to move the technology into the mainstream. A 2025 market report on interactive flat panel displays valued the global market at $ 12.6 billion in 2024 and forecast that it would reach $ 25.7 billion by 2034, representing annual growth of 7.5 %. Education accounted for $ 3.7 billion of the market in 2024, while the technology is also being adopted in corporate, healthcare and public sector environments.

Earlier interactive whiteboards often required a projector, separate computer, calibration and more technical confidence than many users had. Newer panels use interfaces that feel familiar to anyone who uses a smartphone or tablet. That takes away the friction that comes with new technology adoption. Technical sophistication adds little value if the system is not intuitive enough for users to adopt confidently.

The strongest use cases go beyond displaying slides. A teacher can annotate material, bring students into an activity, save the lesson and share it through a cloud platform. The next class can begin where the previous one ended. If a teacher is absent, a colleague can access the material instead of rebuilding the lesson from scratch.

The same principles apply in business. Meeting rooms are becoming connected workspaces where people need to open a document, annotate it, bring in remote participants, capture decisions and make the result available immediately afterwards.

Levert Fisher, Product Marketing Manager at Ricoh South Africa

The rise of interactive displays also reflects a change in the kind of work teams are being asked to do. Knowledge work increasingly involves making sense of complex information together rather than simply presenting finished material. A systematic review of 38 experimental studies found that large interactive displays generally supported stronger collaboration, knowledge gains and social interaction than single-user environments.

A separate study involving 72 participants found that groups working in one shared digital workspace achieved better performance and engagement than those divided across separate displays. The advantage lies in giving everyone access to the same information, allowing people to contribute directly and helping the group build a shared understanding as the work develops.

This creates a practical advantage in the workplace. A large interactive surface gives a team room to see more information at once, work on the same material and make changes in view of the group. It can support planning sessions, design reviews, training, data analysis and project meetings without forcing the work back onto one person’ s laptop.

For business and education buyers, the procurement question has changed. Screen size and resolution still matter, but they are only part of the decision. Buyers should examine ease of use, cloud compatibility, security, device management, remote support, energy consumption and user training.

The strongest business case comes from reducing repeated work and making collaboration easier. A lesson can be saved instead of erased. A meeting can end with a shared record rather than photographs of handwritten notes. Several people can work on the same content without passing control from one device to another.

To gain the most value from the technology, users need to treat it as part of a wider workflow, with clear use cases, proper integration and enough support for users to move beyond basic presentation. •

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