Let's kick it off: Next Up, the competition where 8th graders meet the IT industry!

Skills supply

Next Up, the competition where ten Stockholm schools compete to solve problems at leading IT companies, is now underway. The students are led by female university students in IT who, together with twenty partner companies, participate in IT&Telecom's search for the digital talents of the future. A first round will be held in the Stockholm region with almost 400 students in year eight. From 2015, the competition will also be held nationally.

Next Up is an IT-inspired competition where eighth graders compete in teams to solve problems in reality-based cases at a number of Sweden's leading IT companies. After a couple of months of preparation, integrated with the school's teaching, the young people get two days of inspiration and problem solving to test what a job in IT can mean. The competition days are located in Stockholm City and Kista on April 2 and 3.

- "For years we have been talking about the need to introduce IT and other technology industries earlier in the school years, not least so that young girls understand what exciting IT professions there are to choose from. Through Next Up, we are finally getting to the point," says Anne-Marie Fransson, Director of IT&Telekomföretagen.

Next Up is a strategic initiative from IT&Telecom companies, with the aim of attracting young people with both innovative power and cutting-edge talent to the IT sector in the long term. The competition will therefore become an annual event, with an upscaling to three additional locations in Sweden planned in 2015.

- The overall skills pool is currently too small, with many companies simply struggling to find the right skills at the right time. This often leads to companies competing with each other for skills. In the long term, we must broaden the total selection from below and by establishing Next Up as an annual, national competition, we are taking an important step in this direction," says Staffan Hanstorp, Chairman of the Board of IT&Telekomföretagen and CEO of Addnode Group AB.

The following schools with team leaders from the DataTjej network participate:
- Källtorpsskolan, Järfälla
- Kunskapskolan, Nacka
- Kunskapsskolan, Saltsjöbaden
- Myrsjöskolan, Nacka
- Eklidens skola, Nacka
- Birkaskolan, Ekerö
- Husbygårdsskolan, Stockholm
- Mälarhöjdens skola, Stockholm
- Ärvingeskolan, Stockholm
- Björkebyskolan, Järfälla

The following are partner companies in Next Up:
- Ericsson
- Sogeti
- Basefarm
- Academic Work
- IBM
- Microsoft
- Capgemini
- BeeMobile
- EVRY
- Netlight
- Google
- King
- Stardoll
- Paradox Interactive
- iZettle
- SVT
- DataTjej
- Stockholm IT Region
- Atrium Ljungberg

Film, web and social media:
See the updated web with the new Next Up film with partners, participating schools and team leaders from the DataGirl network: http://nextup.se/

Follow Next Up on Instagram under #Nextupsthlm
Also follow Next Up on Facebook: facebook.com/nextup.se