DojoCon 2018 Announces Institute Of Technology Carlow As Major Partner
The Institute of Technology Carlow is to be one of the principal sponsors of DojoCon 2018, the global conference for the worldwide community of CoderDojos which takes place in Kilkenny from 19th-21st October.
CoderDojo is a global movement of volunteers who run free coding clubs for young people. DojoCon2018 will feature workshops, demos and talks from a host of keynote speakers in areas such as animation, special effects, building technology for people with disabilities, A/B website testing, computer games, robotics, data security and virtual reality, amongst others. The last day of CoderDojo is dedicated to a Hackathon featuring various age-appropriate challenges for 7-17year olds. DojoCon2018 is expected to attract over 1,000 attendees, including ‘ninjas’ (coders) over the age of 13, parents and adults volunteers from Coderdojo clubs around the country.
DojoCon
Speaking at the announcement of Institute of Technology Carlow’s support of DojoCon 2018, Nigel Whyte, head of the Institute’s Department of Computing said, “As tech educators, we work to ensure Ireland has a talent pool of technology professionals to respond to the needs of industry, so we jumped at the opportunity to be a partner in DojoCon2018. The ethos of Coderdojo is one we admire and fully endorse – equipping young people with technology skills in a fun and interactive way. We’re really looking forward to DojoCon and hope the many ninjas attending the conference will enjoy and be inspired by all we have to teach and demo”.
ICT is an area in which Institute of Technology Carlow has excelled for many years. The Institute was the first in the country to offer a Bachelor of Science in Computer Games Development, developed with the assistance of Microsoft and is the only third-level institution in Ireland to offer a BSc (Hons) in Cybercrime and IT Security. It collaborated with UNUM for its Bachelor of Science in Software Development to deliver the UNUM Software Development Centre on campus and also offers honours degree courses in Computer Games Development and Information Technology Management.
Margaret Ahearne, DojoCon Coordinator said “We are so thrilled the 2018 DojoCon is taking place in Kilkenny and we are looking forward to meeting all the delegates to express our passion for sharing knowledge, inspiring and creating opportunities for young people, and celebrating in our amazing city Kilkenny”
John Leamy, who is one of the main organisers of DojoCon 2018 commented, “It is exciting to be bringing the global CoderDojo community to the south east, and we are thrilled to be partnering with the Institute of Technology Carlow, whose computing department is throwing its full support behind the event; not just financially, but with their team of lecturers and staff who will be very involved at DojoCon through talks, workshops and demonstrating some really cool technology, for the benefit of the many ninjas, mentors and adults who will be attending DojoCon18. It is also timely with Computer Science being introduced as a leaving certificate subject this year, and we hope to attract many of those teachers and students to the conference”, said John Leamy.
Keynote speakers scheduled for DojoCon 2018 include: tech entrepreneur Jordan Casey, who set up his award-winning video games company at 13 years of age; award-winning game designer Brenda Romera; scientist-astronaut candidate Norah Patten; presenter of Tech Talk on Newstalk FM, Jessica Kelly; David R. Pollard, founder of Learning Tech Labs; Darya Yegorina, Founder and CEO, Cleverbooks AR for Education and James Tubbritt, VR/AR Developer at Emagine. There will also be speakers from Expedia, one of the main conference sponsors.
Organisers say DojoCon 2018 will have a strong focus on diversity, with women representing 50% of the workshop hosts and speakers. For further information, visit http://dojocon.coderdojo.com/