HUNDREDS ATTEND DIGIKIDS TECH INCUBATOR CAMP

A camper is engrossed in flying a drone at the RSC Digikids Tech Incubator camp day at San Fernando Community Centre on 9 August 2023.

TUESDAY 22 AUGUST 2023: PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO –   The RSC Digikids Tech Incubator – a free hybrid technology vacation camp for ages 8 to 12 – has seen tremendous interest and uptake since it launched on 17 July 2023. Over 1,000 students have participated thus far. The non-profit organisation ‘Restore a Sense of I Can’ (RSC) is hosting the camp with the support of the Digicel Foundation.

The camp aims to empower young people to become digital creators. During the virtual sessions, campers learnt about simulations, dance code, cyber security, artificial intelligence, web development, audio editing and video editing. RSC has also been visiting communities to host one-day, in-person camps. Young campers have come out in large numbers for this opportunity to get hands-on experience with coding and robotics, with 130 students attending the one-day camp at San Fernando Community Centre on August 9th and 150 attending at Pt Lisas Community Centre on August 17th.

Campers participated on-site in activities such as building a website, building a circuit board and earned their certification in dance code. Kylon Dyer, age 9 from Marac, said his favourite camp activity was learning dance code where he made his virtual character dance to trending songs using drag-and-drop block-based coding. Another popular and unique camp activity was the augmented reality segment where the campers made their coloured pictures come to life using 3D technology. 

“The campers were so excited to use the Quiver app to interact and engage with their coloured pictures. It was great to experience the enthusiasm of our pre-teen campers who are having fun while being introduced to important new skills. They are learning functional digital literacy and gaining marketable skills from this camp, giving them a solid foundation for success in this ever-evolving digital world,” shared Diana Mathura-Hobson, Project Officer at the Digicel Foundation.

There are still two in-person camp days coming up, one at the Belmont Community Centre and one at Carenage Community Centre, with dates to be announced soon. There will also be a re-run of the camp day at Penal Community Centre on August 30th, as attendance on the original date was severely impacted by heavy rainfall.

Over 100 campers between the ages of 8 and 12 had fun with robotics at the RSC Digikids Tech Incubator camp day at San Fernando Community Centre on 9 August 2023.

Digicel Business invested TT$120,000 into the camp, which was used to purchase training kits inclusive of mini drones, coding interface tabs, Arduino starter kits, Arduino sensor kits, snap circuits and robot master coding kits. RSC is a non-profit organisation dedicated to social development through education, and one of its ongoing projects is establishing and supporting technology clubs in schools throughout the Caribbean. They run camps annually to engage youth in new tech opportunities. 

ENDS

About Digicel

As a Digital Operator, Digicel is in the business of delivering powerful digital experiences 1440 minutes of each day to customers – that’s every minute, all day, every day.

Through its world-class LTE and fibre networks, together with its suite of eight apps spanning sports (SportsMax), music (D’Music), news (Loop), local radio and podcasts (GoLoud), TV streaming, (PlayGo) enhanced messaging and marketplaces (BiP), cloud storage (Billo) and self-care (MyDigicel app), Digicel is the only operator in its markets that can deliver the complete digital experience.

Serving consumer and business customers in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and Pacific with investments of over US$7 billion and a commitment to communities in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and Trinidad & Tobago, the Digicel Foundation has contributed to positive outcomes for over three million people to date.

With its Better Together brand, Digicel is promising “simply more” to its customers and communities as the company’s 7,000 employees worldwide work together to make this pledge a powerful reality day in, day out.

For more visit www.digicelgroup.com