Over the course of the past 5 years, the Coding Academies from Orange Jordan have contributed to bridging the gap between the requirements of the labor market and the digital skills of young women and men by equipping them with the up-to-date digital skill set. Aligning with this, and on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Coding Academies, Orange Jordan launched a Programming Hackathon that aimed to empower females and males across the Kingdom to unleash their digital passion.
The hackathon enabled young women and men to contribute effectively to the national growth and digital transformation in a culmination of the Coding Academies’ journey. They changed the lives of around 700 students in 5 Jordanian governorates namely Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Balqa, and Aqaba. As proof of such a life-changing impact, 80% of participants joined the labor market armed with programming languages skills. The training also included soft skills to maximize their success rate in their professional paths.
33 females and males from different governorates participated in the hackathon going through two challenges; one related to problem solving and the other revolved around the implementation of programming languages.
At the closing ceremony of the event, the students presented their ideas before the jury composed of a number of experts from ICT companies in Jordan, and following the pitching; the winning team, consisting of 5 members, was announced.
It is worth mentioning that the Coding Academy, the first of its kind in the Middle East, was founded by Orange Group in 2019 in collaboration with Simplon.Co, and accredited by Princess Sumaya University for Technology and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and it adopts a business model that focuses on "Training for Employment”. Testifying to such an important mission, the Academy allows students to enjoy a wide variety of professional options when it comes to their career paths. Options can include getting access to the labor market or launching their entrepreneurial projects, in line with the company's social responsibility, which is based on 4 pillars, including digital education, digital inclusion, entrepreneurship, climate, and environment.
Orange Jordan embraces a collaborative approach to maximize the impact. In this context, it works currently on forging new partnerships to expand the presence of the Coding Academies in new geographical locations enabling more participants to benefit from their programs