BT Archives - Digital Xtra

17 Oct 2022

Digital Xtra Fund awards 35 grants to drive digital skills initiatives for young people across Scotland

Digital Xtra Fund, a Scottish charity backed by both the public and corporate sectors, has awarded 35 grants to drive digital skills initiatives for young people across the country. The 35 grants cover 24 different local authorities, including 23 primary schools, 3 secondary schools, 3 colleges and universities, 2 libraries, and 4 educational bodies, totalling £150,000. The grants, which will help deliver digital skills initiatives throughout the current academic year, are up from 22 last year when total funding was £100,000.

Kraig Brown, Digital Xtra Fund’s Partnerships and Development Manager, said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to support many more initiatives this year, as well as a wider range of activities. This year’s applications show a renewed appetite for digital skills initiatives after a challenging couple years. We know we need to positively engage more of Scotland’s young people with digital tech to help them reach their potential in the future economy and an increasingly digital world, and extracurricular activities are the perfect medium to do this.”

Supported initiatives include a coding club at Hillside Primary School in Aberdeenshire, an all-girls after school robotics club at Kirkliston Primary School in Edinburgh in partnership with Scottish startup Robotical, a LEGO Leaders Code Club at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Dundee, a coding club at Stromness Academy in Orkney using Otto robots, and a joint coding club with Cadder and St Mary’s Primary Schools in Glasgow.

Since being launched in 2016, Digital Xtra Fund has awarded £875,000 of funding, helping schools and organisations engage over 40,000 young people.

From the corporate sector, major funders include Baillie Gifford, CGI, Chroma Ventures, J.P. Morgan, and Scotland Women in Technology as well as Accenture, Cirrus Logic, Incremental Group, ScotlandIS, and Skyscanner.

Sam Pattman, Philanthropy Manager, Baillie Gifford said: “Baillie Gifford is very pleased to continue its support of Digital Xtra Fund. Through our business, we know the importance of digital skills and ensuring young people are prepared for what’s ahead of them. Extracurricular activities can reach and engage a wider range of young people, as demonstrated by the variety of grant recipients this year. We have always been impressed by the charity’s ambition and its reach across Scotland, and look forward to hearing more from the supported initiatives as the year moves forward.”

Last year, Digital Xtra Fund also secured funding from the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland to match fund industry’s support, on the back of 2020’s Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review by Mark Logan which recommended that school stage extracurricular tech activities be strategically supported.

Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “The Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review called for action to encourage more young people and girls into Computing Science. The Scottish Government’s £100,000 funding will support these 35 projects to drive digital skills development. We hope this will inspire a new generation of tech entrepreneurs by boosting digital skills for young people across Scotland.”

The full list of grants awarded by Digital Xtra Fund this year can be found here.

11 Oct 2021

Digital Xtra Fund selects 22 initiatives to drive digital skills for young people in Scotland

Digital Xtra Fund, a Scottish charity that is backed by both the public and corporate sectors, has selected 22 initiatives to help drive digital skills for young people aged 16 and under in Scotland. The funding ranges from delivering coding clubs at four schools across Angus, a ‘Games for Good’ initiative for teens at Heart of Midlothian FC’s Innovation Centre, introducing hundreds of young people to cyber security at Aberdeen Science Centre, and a COP26-related collaboration around climate tech with SCDI’s Young Engineers and Science Clubs.

Kraig Brown, Digital Xtra Fund’s Partnerships and Development Manager, says the Fund’s goal is “for every young person in Scotland to have access to innovative and digitally creative activities, regardless of their gender, background, or where they live. This year’s grant awards are valued at over £100,000 and will now help around 7,250 young people across the country learn about the vast opportunities with tech.”

“The past 18 months have really proven the importance and value of what we’re doing, but also shown us we need to increase our ambitions now if we want to reach our goal before it’s too late. We want educators, youth workers, and others across the country to be confident in starting a coding club in their community so all young people have an opportunity to learn about digital tech regardless of what courses their school may offer. One thing we’ve been looking at is how to scale up the fantastic work we’ve seen over the past five years and support the development of hundreds of ‘tech clubs’ where kids could learn various skills and try different types of kit in informal and creative ways.”

Since being launched in 2016, Digital Xtra Fund has awarded £725,000 of funding to digital skills initiatives across Scotland, helping schools and organisations engage over 35,000 young people. “Our model is very simple – we work with our industry partners to identify, finance, and assist tech initiatives across the country. The more industry backing we have, the more initiatives we can support, and the more young people we can engage with tech.”

Major funders include AWS, Baillie Gifford, CGI, J.P. Morgan and, most recently, Chroma Ventures. Other funders include Accenture, BT, Cirrus Logic, Fujitsu, Incremental Group, Micro:bit Educational Foundation, ScotlandIS and Skyscanner.

CGI, one of the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world, which has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and the Borders, has continued and increased its support for 2021/2022.

“We are delighted to maintain our strong support for Digital Xtra Fund,” said Lyndsey Teaz, Vice President, CGI in Scotland. “As an organisation we believe passionately in supporting the communities in which we live and work and it has never been more important to encourage talent and innovation in our sector. It is tremendous to see so many young people being helped on their journey and we look forward to seeing the results over the coming months.”

Commenting on Mark Logan’s Scottish Government-commissioned Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review in 2020, Kraig Brown adds: “Mark Logan spelt things out again recently when he described the state of computing science in our schools as an educational emergency. It really is that important and we want to be one of the key parts in the ecosystem that brings about real and effective change. On the plus side, it feels like we’re at a watershed moment and things are starting to move in the right direction.”

Digital Xtra Fund brings together businesses, organisations, and individuals with a common goal to help young people succeed in a digital world through an annual grant awards programme. Key Partners include AWS, Baillie Gifford, CGI, Chroma Ventures, J.P. Morgan, Scottish Government, and Skills Development Scotland as well as Accenture, BT, Cirrus Logic, Fujitsu, Incremental Group, Micro:bit Educational Foundation, ScotlandIS, and Skyscanner.

For further information about Digital Xtra Fund and this year’s grant recipients, please visit: www.digitalxtrafund.scot.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 78,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.

24 Mar 2021

Accelerating Scotland’s tech-led recovery

The following announcement from Scottish Government was published today building on the recommendations of last year’s Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review. In September, Digital Xtra Fund expressed its support for this Review and in particular, it’s recognition of the importance of extracurricular activities when engaging young people with tech (Recommendations 7 and 25). Shortly thereafter, Scottish Government committed to implementing all 34 recommendations.

Scottish Government has been a significant supporter of Digital Xtra Fund and our grants programme since the Fund’s creation in 2016. Their support continues to be a vital part of achieving our goals and objectives. This announcement, and the recently updated Digital Strategy for Scotland, has the potential to ensure Scotland is a global tech centre. However, sufficient digital talent, creativity, and an entrepreneurial mindset are keystone to achieving these plans.

We are very excited by these developments and hope this latest announcement ensures we will continue to work with Scottish Government to support the hard work of schools and organisations across the country engaging young people with technology both in and out of the classroom.

A leading expert in scaling digital businesses has been appointed to oversee work to establish Scotland as a world-class technology hub.

Mark Logan, former Skyscanner executive and Professor of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow, will advise ministers on implementing the recommendations stemming from his independent review of the Scottish tech ecosystem.

The programme will be delivered with £7 million Scottish Government funding in its first year (2021-22). This will include a £1 million fund to make strategic investments in organisations and activities – such as tech conferences, meet-ups or training programmes – that create the best possible environment for Scottish start-ups to succeed.

Procurement for a network of growth-focused entrepreneurial hubs known as “tech scalers” will open for bids later this year. It is anticipated that there will be five scalers in different parts of the country by 2022, with the aim of supporting around 300 high-quality start-ups over the next five years.

Progress will be supported by a gender-balanced advisory board composed of some of Scotland’s most successful entrepreneurs and digital leaders including:

Lesley Eccles, founder and CEO of HelloRelish and co-founder of gaming platform Fanduel
Roan Lavery, co-founder of online accounting firm FreeAgent
Sarah Ronald, founder of Nile HQ strategic design agency
Stephen Ingledew, executive chair of FinTech Scotland

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said:

“Mark is one of the most respected figures in Scotland’s tech scene and his experience, passion and global profile will be invaluable in our joint mission to elevate the tech ecosystem to world-class level.

“The expertise and industry perspective of the advisory board will also be instrumental in ensuring we create the conditions and infrastructure needed to incubate a stream of start-ups that reach sustained profitability and can do so at scale.

“From attracting young people into computing science courses to supporting a community of high-growth businesses, this programme of work will be critical in determining the future contribution of Scotland’s tech sector to our economic recovery.”

Online travel business Skyscanner was Scotland’s first “unicorn” – the industry term for a tech company valued at more than $1 billion. Professor Logan joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer in 2012 until its acquisition in 2017.

Professor Logan said:

“It’s very exciting to witness the shared sense of mission and ambition across government, industry and the education sector in bringing the tech ecosystem review’s recommendations to life. I’m pleased to have the support of such an experienced board as we strive to make Scotland a leading technology economy.”

Background

Mark Logan’s Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review was published in August 2020 and the Scottish Government has committed to implementing its recommendations.

A full list of board members will be published ahead of its first meeting in May 2021.

The £1 million Ecosystem Fund is expected to open for applications in summer 2021.

A document setting out the Scottish Government’s initial expectations of tech scalers will be published shortly and used as a basis for discussions with potential bidders.

Work to develop the technology sector will contribute to the successful delivery of Scotland’s updated digital strategy which was published this month and complements the artificial intelligence strategy published earlier this week.

16 Feb 2021

Applications now open for sixth round of Grant Awards

Schools, clubs and activity providers teaching young people innovative digital skills are all encouraged to apply

Funding applications have opened for this year’s grants programme from Digital Xtra Fund, Scotland’s charity committed to increasing the number and diversity of young people learning key digital skills.

Up to £75,000 will be awarded to high quality, exciting extracurricular digital technologies activities across Scotland. Organisations can apply for grants from a minimum of £500 to a maximum of £5,000. Applications are open until 14:00 on 22 April 2021.

The grants programme is open to schools and organisations who encourage young people to learn digital skills through high quality, extracurricular activities, thus inspiring them to study computing science or other digital technology courses and ultimately pursue a career in tech. This year, the grants programme will also include at least two grants focused specifically on cyber security skills funded by the Scottish Government under the cyber resilience strategy.

Applications are welcome from UK-registered companies, charities, chartered bodies, local authorities, schools, colleges, or universities actively involved in the provision of computing education or digital technology related activities, especially for audiences from excluded groups or backgrounds.

Supported activities must be delivered between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022 and delivered entirely in Scotland. Activities must also focus on engaging young people aged 16 and under.

Kraig Brown, Partnerships & Development Manager for the Digital Xtra Fund, said: “2020 was a year like no other. The impact of lockdown, home schooling and the mass-adoption of online services, at an unprecedented rate highlighted how integral digital technology has become in our daily lives. It is an essential tool, and we must teach all young people how to effectively and safely use this tool or they risk being left behind.

“The ability to get online or use certain programmes and apps is important, however will these skills be enough? It is imperative we teach young people to also understand and create with technology, not simply use it. We must focus on activities and lessons which teach them skills such as computational thinking, the design process, resilience and, perhaps most importantly, we need to do this in a fun and exciting way to inspire their creativity as well.

“The ability to tailor extracurricular activities makes them an ideal medium to engage young people in tech as was highlighted in the 2020 Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review. Within the Education and Talent stream, the role of extracurricular activities was identified as a key element to widening the talent pipeline.”

Nicola Gallen, Business Development Manager for Devolved Nations at Amazon Web Services (AWS) EMEA SARL, one of the Fund’s key supporters, added: “AWS is pleased to support Digital Xtra Fund. Having been involved in last year’s application evaluation panel, we saw first-hand the positive impact the grants programme has on schools and educational organisations across Scotland. This year as a Gigabyte Partner, we’re enabling the Fund to support even more fantastic initiatives.

“At AWS we believe that everyone should be involved in building the future and want to inspire as many people as possible to become creators of tech as well as consumers of it. Helping more schools and organisations show young people how exciting tech can be through the Digital Xtra Fund grants programme is something that we’re very proud to be part of.”

Last year, Digital Xtra Fund supported 25 activities across the country including Heart of Midlothian Football Club’s new Innovation Centre. This community-based initiative offers courses to help people learn digital skills as well as supporting local businesses. Funding enabled the delivery of two activities for young people which were initially to be delivered in person, however, the Club was able to successfully pivot to deliver both programmes via remote learning.

Ann Park, Director of Community and Partnerships at Hearts, said: “It has been great working with Digital Xtra Fund. We have had first-class feedback from our all-girls Apps for Good programme and Building an Online Shop course and are looking forward to running these again in February. Digital Xtra Fund’s support has enabled us to reach young people from a broad range of backgrounds and inspire them to take the next steps in forging a digital career.”

Digital Xtra Fund brings together industry, educators, and the public sector with a common goal of helping young people succeed. The Fund’s grants programme would not be possible without support from its partners. This year’s key partners include AWS, Baillie Gifford, CGI, J.P. Morgan, and Scottish Government as well as Accenture, BT, Cirrus Logic, Incremental Group, Micro:bit Educational Foundation, ScotlandIS, Skills Development Scotland, and Skyscanner.

To find out more about eligibility criteria and to apply visit: https://www.digitalxtrafund.scot/apply/

This year’s grant awards are also dedicated to the memory of Joan Davidson, Head of Learning at Edinburgh Science, who sadly passed away in November 2020. Joan was committed to inspiring young people to explore, study, and develop a lifelong love of STEM and was instrumental in organising events and experiences that reached more than half a million young people.

About Digital Xtra Fund:
Digital Xtra Fund was launched in May 2016 to support extracurricular activities which boost interest in computing and technology among young people and provide them a clearer understanding of the types and range of careers in tech. In March 2017, the Fund became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) enabling it to partner with a wide range of industry partners. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded £660,000 to 80 initiatives across the country and helped engage over 38,000 young people in technology. Many supported activities include schools and small grassroots organisations. Summaries of all previous initiatives and activities supported by the Fund can be found under the Grants tab on the Digital Xtra Fund website.

The goal of Digital Xtra Fund is for every young person in Scotland to have access to innovative and creative digital making activities regardless of gender, background, or where they live, and understand the range of careers these skills will provide. The aims of Digital Xtra Fund are to:

inspire young people to understand and create with technology, not simply use it
enable exciting extracurricular digital tech activities across Scotland
engage industry experts with young people to help contextualise digital skills

06 May 2019

May I have a slice of pizza with some extra data please…

Barefoot Computing, a BT-sponsored programme helping teachers bring computer science to life in the classroom, are very excited to introduce their latest data-focused resource…a Pizza Party! Each Barefoot Pizza Party is a five-lesson resource that teaches 7 to 11-year-old pupils about data. It teaches young people about collection, analysis and evaluation using something nearly every 7 to 11-year-old can understand – pizza.

Using various methods of collecting and analysing data, pupils will work together throughout the five lessons to plan a pizza party for their class. To help facilitate this, Barefoot are providing the first 200 primary schools to request a workshop using the code ‘PIZZA’ with a pizza box full of goodies. This includes a poster, stickers, a lesson overview, a recipe card, a shopping list and a chef’s hat.

Once the school has completed their workshop, they will be provided with a £25 gift voucher that can be used to purchase the ingredients for making their own pizzas. This has been done to ensure that all primary schools, no matter their budget, can enjoy a pizza party. There are also suggestions provided of how to take part if a school doesn’t have cooking facilities.

Schools that have already had a workshop can get involved too simply by downloading the resource. Every week from 6 May 2019 until 28 June 2019, a prize draw will take place with a winning school chosen at random. That school will then be sent their own pizza box, with 40 additional boxes created exactly for this purpose.

As with all other Barefoot resources, this is fully curriculum aligned and completely free. This campaign, with its inclusive incentives, is designed to draw attention to data – an often overlooked, yet crucial element of computing. Pizza Party makes data not only relatable, but exciting. And the promise of delicious homemade pizza means that pupils will stay engaged right until the end.

Teachers can register and download the resource from the Barefoot website from the 29 April onwards.

12 Mar 2019

BT-sponsored Barefoot Computing provides boost for computing lessons in Scottish schools

A programme to help teachers bring computer science to life in the classroom has already reached more than half of Scotland’s primary schools, according to new figures.

Latest numbers show that teachers from 69 per cent of primary schools in Scotland – a total of more than 6,700 teachers so far – have registered to use the BT-sponsored Barefoot Computing programme, which offers free, classroom-ready teaching resources.

Launched in 2017 in Scotland, the lessons are available to all primary schools and aim to help pupils aged between five and 11 years old to develop basic computing skills and computational thinking across all subjects. The free downloadable resources and materials have been tailored to the Scottish curriculum and have been backed by the Scottish Government. They are designed to help primary school teachers across Scotland, some of whom may not have specialist computing knowledge. The resources, available in English and Gaelic, promote problem-solving, creativity and collaboration among pupils. Barefoot volunteers, including BT employees, have now delivered more than 500 free workshops for teachers across Scotland to introduce them to the resources.

Carol Farquhar, principal teacher at Houston Primary School, said: “We have been pleased to be part of the Barefoot initiative. It’s been a great way to get the pupils further excited and inspired about computing and developing their digital skills.

“Technology and digital skills are an important part of the Curriculum for Excellence and bringing these ideas into our teaching has really helped to engage the children. The Barefoot resources are helpful and accessible.”

Alan Armstrong, Strategic Director at Education Scotland, said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved in the BT tech literacy programme for working with us on this journey as we raise standards in our transformational curriculum.

“Digital skills are at the heart of our Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland, because it’s crucial our learners have the tools and capabilities they need to thrive in an increasingly digital world. I look forward to continuing to work with BT to make these attractive and supportive resources accessible to all schools in Scotland.”

Jane Wood, BT Group UK nations and regions director, said: “I’m incredibly proud of how many teachers and children have been involved in the Barefoot programme and benefitted from the fantastic resources available.

“Increasingly, most jobs rely on people having digital skills. By 2022 the UK will need an additional 500,000 workers in digital industries, which is three times the number of computer science graduates the UK has produced in the last 10 years. The Barefoot resources not only deliver important tech skills, but also life skills.

“Well done to all the teachers, the Barefoot team and of course to the thousands of pupils from across Scotland who have made the programme the success it is today. We live in a world powered by technology. Let’s make sure the next generation can thrive in it and work together to get Barefoot to all of the 400,000 primary-aged children in Scotland, as fast as possible.”

Alongside the release of these figures, a new Barefoot website has also been launched which provides even more materials for teachers. Typical support consists of tasks designed to improve pupils’ understanding of concepts like algorithms in a way that improves their ability to think logically and sequentially but creatively. The website also includes new support which helps educate pupils on using the internet safely and what ‘consent’ means in terms of controlling their personal information and identity.

Teachers and parents can find more information and get the free resources at https://barefootcomputing.org

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