Promoter – NTT DATA Portugal
Action – International Technology Olympics
Description – NTT DATA launched at the end of 2022, the International Technology Olympics in Portugal. An initiative organized through the NTT DATA Foundation, aimed at children aged 7 to 16, which aims to develop digital skills and raise awareness of environmental awareness. It is a way of awakening young people’s interest in programming and stimulating logical and computational reasoning, as well as the development of social skills (such as creativity, teamwork, time management, etc.), and consists of a virtual competition, lasting three months, which will allow young participants to develop a video game, as they learn to program. The initiative takes place at an international level in over 10 countries – Spain, Romania, Italy, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador -, through an interactive platform, where participants will receive training, mentoring and challenges they have to overcome to advance the level.
The registration of participants must be done by parents or guardians, who can also follow the evolution of the initiative with their children. Once enrolled, children are organized into groups of 5 to 10 elements, to respond to challenges that will be posed to them throughout the competition, in a course of 12 stages, and always accompanied by qualified mentors, who will guide them through the process. of learning, solve doubts and give ideas to overcome the challenges.
Mentors are NTT DATA employees, who volunteer to participate in the context of their workday and with hours supported by the company (pro-bono), doing group training and personalized mentoring. In addition to the skills demonstrated in terms of information technology, all volunteers attended specific training to qualify as mentors of the International Technology Olympics and provide didactic support to children and adolescents.
After completing the scheduled challenges, the performance of the participating groups will be evaluated by a qualified jury, which will have the mission of identifying the winners of the competition, in three categories determined by the age group of the participants. The winners will receive robotics kits to further develop their skills.
In Portugal, the initiative has 30 mentors (still in the recruiting phase), employees of NTT DATA Portugal and more than 200 children and young people enrolled (our goal being 100).
More information here.