Informatics Reaches out to Schoolkids

02 July 08

The Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) universities have agreed to collaborate where possible in order to boost interest in their discipline.

Scottish employers report increasing difficulties in recruiting good graduates, and so top companies are throwing their weight behind the universities efforts. In response, a small group of staff from local schools, universities and Scotland, chaired by Morna Findlay of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics, organised a successful event - called IT4U - to promote computing to pupils at a crucial stage in their education.

260 schoolkids from 15 schools across Scotland attended an event hosted by the School of Informatics, using capabilities enabled by the Scottish Enteprise PROSPEKT investment. The day-long series of workshops was aimed at third-year pupils studying Standard Grade computing. Pupils had the chance to experiment with the latest advanced computers, as well as meeting computing professionals and young entrepreneurs who are turning their own inventions into businesses.

Schoolchildren had the chance to design computer games, build a robot, and learn how hackers break into computers at the event. The PROSPEKT team ran one of the best-liked workshops - "Dragon's Den" - where schoolkids pitched fledgling business ideas based on existing Startups to the PROSPEKT Dragons.

With assistance from Polly Purvis of ScotlandIS, the following Companies attended

IT4U:JP MORGAN, GOOGLE, ORACLE, LOGICA, STUDENT LOAN CO, BT, IBM, CAS, SOPRA GROUP, CAPGEMINI. AMAZON, EPCC, VALLEY TECHNOLOGY, SUN MICROSYSTEMS, NET RESOURCES.

Morna Findlay of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics said:

“Sometimes pupils and their parents think that computing jobs are leaving the country, but employers across Scotland and beyond desperately need talented computing graduates, and Scotland isn’t producing enough of them. We hope to encourage pupils to consider a degree in this area, by showing them some of the exciting ideas and cutting-edge technology which they could help to create.”

Source: www.scottish-enterprise.com

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