Via Dublin Globe: The Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation, John Halligan TD, has officially launched Tech Week 2018, Ireland’s national festival of technology.
The aim of the festival is to spark an interest in technology and related study and careers among students, parents and the public. Tech Week takes place all over Ireland this year from 22nd – 28th April.
Organised by the ICS Foundation, the social enterprise arm of the Irish Computer Society, and supported by Science Foundation Ireland and Amazon Web Services, the week of events will see more than 100,000 students take part in a range of activities, including the finals of several national Tech Week events.
The week will be jam-packed with events taking place all over the country; school students will be challenged on their computational thinking skills at the National Bebras final in NUI Maynooth on Saturday, April 21st, and coding projects will be showcased by school children in the Scratch Programming Final in University of Limerick on Wednesday, April 25th.
Speaking at the launch of Tech Week 2018, Minister Halligan said: "All young people love science and finding out how things work. Tech Week is aimed at stimulating children’s natural curiosity and encouraging them to explore, discover and develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It provides hands-on opportunities for young people to learn about how computing and related technologies are shaping every area of life.
With the European Commission estimating that 90pc of tomorrow’s jobs will require digital skills; we need to ensure that Ireland is at the forefront of this transformation. We must be a leader in developing and nurturing STEM talent."
Tech Week is supported by the SFI Discover programme - find out more here.
