800 young innovators to take part in Coolest Projects

More than 800 young innovators from across Ireland and western Europe will take part in the fifth annual CoderDojo Coolest Projects Awards at the RDS on Saturday, June 18th.

The event is expected to attract more than 10,000 spectators to witness demonstrations of the apps, websites, animation, games and robots among this year’s submissions.

The CoderDojo Coolest Projects Awards are unique in Europe were established as a competition and exhibition to create, support and inspire a generation of innovators, creators and entrepreneurs aged from 7 to 17.

The awards create a unique platform for young people to develop a broad set of coding and digital skills by offering them the opportunity to showcase the skills they have learned at CoderDojo and other coding clubs.

“Coolest Projects provides the bridge from learning coding skills at CoderDojos to innovating and creating future employment. We are the piece in the middle which makes the connection,” said Coolest Projects co-founder Noel King.

“These digital skills are vital if Europe is to address the coding skills shortage which has led to 500,000 open job postings across the region in 2015.”

Coolest Projects has seen young people deliver projects across the latest technologies from cloud to Internet of Things (IoT) to Virtual Reality and has the real potential to drive vital digital skills across a pan-European platform.

Coolest Projects is supported by Intel, Microsoft, Symantec, Bank of Ireland, Folens, Openet, Virgin Media and RTE.