EU Code Week gets underway
This week (15-23 October) marks the fourth annual EU Code Week, an international event which aims to give people of all ages hands-on programming experience.
It comes as a skills shortage of 725,000 ICT professionals is estimated by 2020 if nothing is done to improve digital literacy in Europe.
“Digital skills, including coding, are important for businesses. The Gigabit society needs IT-skilled people to make the infrastructure of the future work. I would encourage everyone to try out some coding during EU Code Week – you may find it fun and it could help you find a good job,” said Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Günther H Oettinger.
EU Code Week is this year being held in partnership with Public Libraries 2020, a network of 65,000 public libraries which is organising workshops in local libraries across Europe. Other supporters include Google, which is sponsoring 45 events in 28 countries; MIT Media Lab, which has prepared a special EU Code Week tutorial and video; and Lego Education, which is offering Lego Mindstorms Education EV3 software as a free download.
Schools are additionally being encouraged to enrol in CodeWeek4All, which challenges schools to set up coding classes for their pupils and students. Those who reach at least 50% participation will receive a certificate of excellence from the European Commission.
Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: “I invite all schools to take part in the CodeWeek4All challenge. It is important for young people to understand that they can build fun and useful things with code. In the near future 90% of jobs – in careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, art, architecture, and many more – will require some level of digital skills. Increasingly, that includes programming and basic coding skills.”
Coding events will be held in libraries, schools, universities and technology companies across 46 countries inside and outside of Europe. To find events near you, visit the EU Code Week map.
