Kids can code: Coding Class visits Systematic
A Danish sixth-grade school class will be visiting IT company Systematic to learn about coding, IT and technology – and meeting some of the people behind the technology that surrounds us all.
Press release12 March 2018
Technology and IT systems are a natural part of the everyday lives of all Danish children and young people. However, very few of these young IT users know what is behind it all – the engineers and computer scientists who write the code needed to make complex IT systems and creative games work.
With the Coding Class project, ITB (the national trade association for the Danish IT industry) wants to make school students more aware of all this. The project involves collaboration between a number of Danish municipalities and IT companies to provide school classes across the country with the opportunity to experience a theme week immersed in technology.
It is important for us to give students an understanding that IT and technology aren’t just about mobile phones, tablets and computers. We want to show them that there are people behind the technology that surrounds us all. And that maybe they could be one of those people one day
That’s why – on 5 April – one of a total of 39 sixth-grade school classes from the municipality of Aarhus – where IT company Systematic is headquartered – that have signed up for the scheme will be able to experience these workings from within. Group Senior Vice President Dorte Gade at Systematic sees great potential in this opportunity.
“Danish children and young people are the generation that will ensure Denmark continues as an internationally minded society based on know-how. That’s why we at Systematic are pleased to share our knowledge about a field that will undoubtedly play an even bigger role in the future,” declares Dorte Gade.
People behind the technology
During the first four days of the week, students will learn how to code, and will work on transferring their own creative ideas into a game. After four days of coding, all the classes will visit a company where they will show the games they spent the previous days coding.
The students visiting Systematic will hear more about what an international IT company like Systematic works with, while also getting feedback about their own game from a group of professional coders and developers from Systematic. The aim is to show students that nowadays all businesses are run by technology and IT, with people in different roles.
“It is important for us to give students an understanding that IT and technology aren’t just about mobile phones, tablets and computers. We want to show them that there are people behind the technology that surrounds us all. And that maybe they could be one of those people one day,” says Dorte Gade.
Need for strengthening the IT industry
Coding Class is a pilot project aimed at teaching young people about IT and technology, and giving them a desire to explore this field and maybe even themselves work with different digital processes at some point in their lives.
The background for the project includes a forecast that there will be a shortage of as many as 19,000 IT specialists in Denmark by 2030. This is already a significant challenge for the industry as a whole. At Systematic, for example, there were already 80 vacancies as of 1 February this year, and Dorte Gade expects the company’s worldwide staff requirements to increase by around 200 in 2018 as a whole.
“We already have difficulty filling vacant posts with the people we need. Unless we actively do something to strengthen the Danish IT sector, we will have even bigger problems finding the necessary manpower in the future. And this will eventually weaken Denmark’s overall position in competitive global markets,” explains Dorte Gade.
For more information, contact Communication Manager Helle Bastrup, +45 9133 5822, helle.bastrup@systematic.com.
