This year, we again opened our doors to enthusiastic youngsters: at “Girls’ Day” and “Smart Summer”, the young participants were given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of technology and IT in an interactive way and discover new talents and interests. Following the positive experiences in previous years, we were delighted to welcome the “developers of tomorrow” again.
Girls’ Day: getting girls more interested in IT
Girls’ Day (an initiative of the Women’s Office of the City of Salzburg and the Traunstein Department of Employment, supported by akzente Salzburg) aims to answer an important question: “How can we get young women interested in IT and technology?” The event gives girls in companies and schools an insight into different careers and training paths, especially in what have traditionally been viewed as male-dominated fields. A total of 16 girls aged between 11 and 17 visited us at Porsche Informatik on 26 April 2018 and spent a full day with our colleagues.
Smart Summer: delving into the world of IT
The boys and girls also had lots of fun at Smart Summer. The programme is offered to young people between the ages of 12 and 16 during the summer holidays. Over the course of a week, they are given a glimpse behind the scenes at various IT and technology companies. Smart Summer was initiated by the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Austrian Industry, Salzburg Research, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, ITG Salzburg, akzente and the State of Salzburg.
The “digital natives” enjoyed a packed programme from Monday to Friday. On Thursday 19 July 2018, the participants spent an afternoon finding out about day-to-day life here at Porsche Informatik. The 30 or so students from different schools and years had to apply to akzente Salzburg in writing to attend, and they were brimming with enthusiasm on the day. “The Smart Summer campaign is so successful that there was a long waiting list,” says Julia Eder from Salzburg Research.
Varied programme with added value
The teaching approach for the Girls’ Day and Smart Summer programmes was the same as in previous years, but the concept was expanded and adapted for this year’s events. As part of the “CodeIT” exercise, for example, the participants had the opportunity to program their own memory game and design the board layout with a Volkswagen camper van. During “Get2knowIT”, they were taught about the various roles in the development process by using paper aeroplanes as an example. During “UI/UX Design”, the young participants were introduced to the creative side of IT in an illustrative way. As part of “My IT Journey”, they learned about the various training and development paths at Porsche Informatik, based on the experiences of some of our colleagues.
During “Women’s IT Journey” on Girls’ Day, the mentors told the girls about their own personal route into the IT industry: from their time studying at school and university, to the key situations that ultimately led them to choose IT, through to their efforts to coordinate work and family life.
Of course, there were also opportunities to enjoy a few culinary delights at a meet & greet. The varied programme was rounded off with the feedback session “LikedIT”, so that the experiences could also be used for future youth initiatives.
Closing presentation with film screening
Am Ende der „Smart Summer“-Woche, am Freitag, den 20. Juli 2018 fand eine Abschlusspräsentation in der Wirtschaftskammer Salzburg statt. Jedes Unternehmen wurde von einer kleinen Gruppe der Teilnehmer*innen vor großer Runde präsentiert. Neben den Eltern waren auch Firmenvertreter sowie Mitglieder der Landesregierung und der beteiligten Veranstalter anwesend. Gleich zu Beginn wurden die erst am Vortag gedrehten Filmszenen von der Porsche Informatik gezeigt. Danach stellten die Jugendlichen ihren Besuch bei der Porsche Informatik aus ihrer Sicht anschaulich und mit Bildern zu den einzelnen Programmpunkten vor.
A special thanks to our hard-working helpers
We would like to say a big “thank you” to all that helped organise and support the events so well: the team from the Recruiting & PM department and the members of staff here at Porsche Informatik! We had a lot of fun with the kids and are already looking forward to next year’s youth initiatives.
