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Education
Digitizing education for blended and immersive learning experiences
Highlights
- The United Nations (UN) says that digital technologies can ‘significantly contribute’ to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- But today, in the IT field, demand for qualified workers far outpaces supply.
- A TCS initiative is helping redress the balance by inspiring more women to study and work in STEM fields.
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Green tech
From agriculture and education to clean energy and economic growth, technology is vital to build a healthy, wealthy, and resilient world.
The UN says that digital technologies can ‘significantly contribute’ to each of the 17 SDGs, which aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure people live in peace and prosperity by 2030.
At a recent event in Norway, 13 young women and one man stood in front of a panel of judges to present their solutions to help advance these goals. From a mental health app that helps people foster social connections to a platform to tackle electronic waste, their ideas were developed during a programme run by INNO-SCI School of Programming and TCS’ Go Innovate Together (goIT) initiative.
After an eight-week course to develop a green tech solution for their communities, it all came down to this moment. At TCS’ Oslo headquarters, the students took to the stage to pitch their projects to female leaders in the tech industry.
Closing the gap
Despite the global need for the kind of technology solutions presented by the students in Oslo, today, demand for IT workers outpaces supply.
In Europe, close to half of businesses say they are struggling to recruit people with in-demand skills, including data analytics, machine learning, and software engineering. This skills gap is impeding improvements to productivity, economic growth, and the fulfilment of policy goals, including those to address the climate crisis and meeting the SDGs.
The problem is, in part, due to a limited number of graduates in STEM subjects. There is also a gender imbalance. For example, in the European Union, women only make up around a third of STEM graduates, despite comprising well over 50% of university graduates overall.
Helping more women overcome barriers—including gender stereotypes and a lack of role models—to study and work in STEM is crucial to bringing more diversity of thought and experience into the sector.
STEM careers
“Gender equality is not where we want it to be,” says TCS’ Olga Jakobsen-Gudkova, the organiser of the TCS-INNO-SCI programme.
It is often difficult for women who move to Norway to break through in the labour market, especially in male-dominated tech professions, according to INNO-SCI. In response, the organisation collaborated with TCS to inspire women from historically underrepresented communities to get involved in computer sciences and STEM fields.
The resulting programme is an extension of TCS’ goIT initiative, which since 2017 has reached thousands of school-age children across Europe, helping to prepare them with the skills, confidence, and mindsets necessary to pursue careers of the future. A key part of goIT’s vision is to challenge gender stereotypes by showcasing women in STEM as role models.
"We approach it in a very playful way and children learn about design thinking, how to build an app,” says Olga. “Then, in Norway, we adapted the programme for adults.”
It was created to be a ‘safe space’ that demystifies computer science and teaches students to embrace innovation, risk-taking, and failure. Participants take instructor-led sessions and work with industry experts. Alongside, they spend time prototyping their green tech solutions in hands-on workshops, using open-source technology to rapidly test their ideas.
“The participants are all mostly unemployed here in Norway and have come here from other countries,” adds Olga. “Our goal is to provide them with everything they need to pursue their future career.” Eunice Hammond-Mørklid, course leader and founder of INNO-SCI, elaborates: “The collaboration is to get more women into STEM—but, more precisely, to build their capacity to develop solutions that actually fit today.”
Levelling the STEM field for women in Norway
Why mentorship is key
A core part of the course curriculum is mentorship from experts at TCS. They bring with them much technical know-how, but their influence extends to inspiring the students, too.
“We have had exceptional speakers who have been part of the programme,” says course facilitator Sarifa Moola Nærnes. “On different levels, they have not just come with the knowledge and the information, but also are role models to many who are participating.”
Eunice agrees, saying the mentors use their many years of experience to act like ‘path-finders’ for the students. “That builds confidence,” she adds. “It is not just about teaching—it is the action that comes after that.”
And the winner is Elcycle!
After a day of presentations and judging in Oslo, it was time to announce the winning solution.
Vrushali Kodgire, Yi-Wen Wu, Mounika Kollu, and Priya Rao took the prize for their platform Elcycle, which helps people be more responsible with their old electronic devices. It is a timely innovation, as Norway produces the most e-waste per capita of any country in Europe.
Yi-Wen Wu is passionate about the project, and while she and her team are looking to continue to build the prototype into a working solution, she says she is grateful for the training and inspiration the course offered. The input from mentors was especially invaluable to develop something concrete that could be implemented in the real world, Yi-Wen adds, helping her innovate around the idea and ensure their objective aligned with SDGs.
The process had a personal impact too. “It is an important milestone for me, to have some opportunity overall,” she concludes.