Twitter Chat on 10/1: Africa & EU Code Week – #SAPYouthChat

Today, TriplePundit, SAP, and our esteemed guest panelists came together for a special Twitter chat about Africa and EU Code Week at #SAPYouthChat. 

Twitter Chat topics discussed included the following and more!

• How we can equip children with the coding skills they need to thrive in the 21st century workforce


• How technology will play a larger role in our future daily lives across economies and industries


• How SAP is helping foster interest in creative computing through hands-on, interactive and fun learning


• How the spread of digital literacy across continents will shape tomorrow’s highly skilled workforce

Digitalization is fostering growth and creating jobs. Coding is a new language and is everywhere, propelling the future of the digital economy across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However, the spread and sophistication of coding teaching remains too limited. Only 20 percent of Europe’s school children are in schools which have adopted formal policies covering the use of ICT across all subjects. Africa holds the youngest and largest population (122m people will be added to the workforce by 2020), and is also the fastest growing digital consumer market.

Every child deserves the opportunity to be fluent in coding. It can be the springboard to a much larger, impactful career. But first, we must ensure that all children are given the opportunity to be part of the journey. Africa and EU Code Week initiatives are powerful ways to spread digital literacy and start shaping tomorrow’s workforce. Tech-savvy men and women eager to drive social and economic development will help provide children with the skills they need to succeed in a digital world.

Building on the success of the EU Code Week launched by the European Commission across 38 countries last year, hundreds of coding activities will be organized for 20,000 children across 17 African countries from October 1 – 10. This is part of a continent-wide initiative called Africa Code Week, which will empower youth, teachers and parents with the language of software programming using a freely available “Scratch” system. The goal is simple – to help bridge the digital skills gap across Africa.

Featured Guests:

• Bernard Kirk (@KirkBer), Director Galway Education Centre, Ireland


• Derek Breen (@breenworks), Author/Designer of Scratch For Kids For Dummies; American Ambassador for EU Code Week


• Rebecca Nicholson (@RNicholson15520), Head of EMEA CSR & Employee Communications, SAP SE


• Perrin Clark (@the_devschool), Chief Executive Officer of The Dev School

Moderators:

• Nick Aster (@NickAster) — TriplePundit Founder and Publisher


• Marissa Rosen (@MarissaR1) — TriplePundit Director of Social Media

 

HERE'S THE STORIFY SUMMARY OF THE #SAPYouthChat CONVERSATION:

 

This was the third in a series of four Twitter chats that TriplePundit and SAP will host in 2015 to open the dialogue around empowering youth. Stay tuned for our final #SAPYouthChat coming soon!

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 293,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.