This is a place where it seems every bright young mind belongs. Their eyes light up when they talk about ICT, many will become future leaders of the industry, but most are not even teenagers yet.
The Young ICT Explorers is a non-profit competition, created by SAP to encourage school students to create their best Information and Communication Technology related projects.
In its 9th year, the Young ICT Explorers inspires people to take their interest in technology further and to promote interest in IT among Australian youth and children.
This year’s events were held in SA, NSW, VIC, TAS, WA and New Zealand with over 132 schools participating.
There were a massive 498 projects submitted by over 1,323 students starting from as young as 8 or 9 years old in Year 3, through to the teenagers of Year 12.
The competition’s alignment with the school curriculum enables the students to apply what they learn in their ICT and digital technology classes to develop a project of their choice. Safe to say they left us astounded with their understanding and application of a wide variety of ideas. From industry control and monitoring system for craft distilleries, bushfire alarm systems, car sensors for traffic lights to digitally improving a hospital’s emergency triage department, the list goes on for the outstanding projects submitted by some of the gifted young minds of Australia and New Zealand.
At the finals event, students had the opportunity to present their project to judges of reputed industry partners, ICT professionals and academia.
The assessing criteria is based upon uniqueness, documentation, quality, level of difficulty and the creativity of the project undertaken by the students.
The Missing Link’s General Manager, Karen Drewitt, was one of the judges for the National Finals held at University of Technology Sydney on the 8th December and here’s what she had to say about Young ICT Explorers:
“I found the day incredibly rewarding, spending time with very talented students and seeing the extent of their knowledge and creativity. All I can say is, that our future is in good hands, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be involved."
The Road to the National Finals was an incredible one filled with innovative ideas, immense hard work, passion for technology and the thrill of winning amongst peers.
The innovations coming from the young people of Australia and New Zealand this year were truly remarkable and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.
