Next Up: Here they go, the 1000 digital talents!

Digitization Innovation Gender equality Skills supply Education and training

One thousand eighth graders in the Stockholm and Gothenburg regions will spend two months finding the best solutions to a number of challenges linked to the digitalization of schools. On the final days in March and April, two schools will be the winners of Next Up, and with them an industry that has won by opening the door to their companies and showing IT as a future opportunity for both girls and boys.

On Wednesday, we kicked off Next Up Stockholm 2016 by representatives of ten partner companies, schools and DataTjej team leaders meeting to launch the competition where more than 500 eighth graders will work for two months to find the best solutions to this year's case. On April 7, the schools, represented by their teams where at least two out of five team members are girls, will be ready to present their solutions at the final in Kista Nod. In addition to the honor, the winning school goes home with a prize check of SEK 15,000.

In parallel, Next Up West has also started, with the final day at Universeum in Gothenburg on March 22.

The aim of organizing and participating in Next Up is to raise the profile of the IT industry and inspire girls in particular to consider a future in IT. Is this really necessary? Aren't there already enough other initiatives doing the same thing, such as GeekGirl, Kodcentrum, CoderDojo and others? Yes and no. There are many initiatives, and they are all important. But few of them go all the way to the critical moment when young people can be said to decide their future: the choice of secondary school. By targeting young people at an age when interest in IT and "technology" tends to wane, especially among girls, Next Up fills a gap and thus has an important role to play.

What we see more or less missing in most initiatives, but which are Next Up's success factors, are:

  • The link to professional identity, where students gain insights into the social and varied professions available in the sector.
  • The link to school, which means reaching all pupils at the 'right' age before secondary school.
  • Meetings with female role models, both from the academic world through the collaboration with DataTjej and the corporate world.
  • The long-term exposure: two months of classroom work with student role models, study visits to companies, workshops with, and presentations to, industry experts.

With Next Up, we hope to address the narrowing of interest in adolescence, (illustrated in the figure below).

Next Up impact on study choices_Jan -16

The entire success of Next UP is based on our partners' efforts in the form of both time and money - a big thank you to Cybercom, Ericsson, Hogia, IFS, Volvo, Academic Work, Atea, Basefarm, Capgemini, Comhem, Framtiden, IBM, IP Only, Ius Innovation, Lindholmen, Paradox Interactive, SAS Institute, Sigma, Tieto, Tripnet and Västtrafik!

We want to scale up to more schools and more regions in the coming years, and welcome companies, big and small, to get involved with the future digital talents! Please follow us on nextup.se and/or contact me!