📋 Tender Overview
"Coding & Kicking": That is the motto at FC Augsburg today. As part of the BayCode educational initiative under the patronage of national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Bavaria's Digital Minister Dr. Fabian Mehring, a large summer festival is being held there that combines programming workshops and football training for children and young people - and in this way shows that learning new IT technologies through play and physical exercise are not contradictory. State Minister Dr. Fabian Mehring emphasized in his opening speech in Augsburg: "With BayCode, we teach young people the joy of programming and basic digital skills for the world of tomorrow. At the same time, however, we also want to show them how important a healthy life with plenty of exercise is. 'Coding & Kicking' is therefore the perfect format to convey these two important messages." At the event, the minister handed over a grant of 540,000 euros.
A total of 130 young people between the ages of 13 and 17 from three schools in the Augsburg area who are interested in technology and sport are taking part in "Coden & Kicken" today. Guided by experts from the field, they will program their first website in just three hours. To ensure that they get some exercise, the Bavarian Football Association and FC Augsburg are organizing age-appropriate training sessions with licensed football coaches who will reveal a trick or two with the ball. "Coden & Kicken" is taking place for the third time - today for the first time in Swabia. Participation is free of charge.
"We want to develop Bavaria into a premium location for future technologies. But we will only succeed in doing this if we get young people excited about digitization as early as possible - so that the STEM kids of today can become the talents and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. If you want to become the Silicon Valley of the future, you have to be the Talent Valley of the present," said Mehring at the opening of the event. "It is important that we convey the content in a playful way. This motivates the children much more than learning from books and makes programming as exciting as a soccer tournament. And with the soccer training sessions, we show the students how important sport is - especially if you want to achieve top intellectual performance as a 'digital jet engine'."
About BayCode:
The BayCode educational initiative was launched in July 2021 as a joint project of the Bavarian Ministry for Digital Affairs and the ReDI School of Digital Integration, which makes it easier for refugees to integrate into society and the job market. BayCode offers free programming courses for children and young people between the ages of 11 and 18 in Bavaria to get them excited about new technologies and digital professions at an early stage. To date, more than 5,700 young people have been taught coding skills. 212 hackathons were held at 64 schools and 24 companies in 7 administrative districts. 50 companies support the program. The State Ministry for Digital Affairs is funding the initiative with 540,000 euros.
