ICTC News Release - Providing Students with Digital Skills Needed for Future Jobs

Digital DASH – ICTC prepares Canada’s youth for digital careers

OTTAWA. January 22, 2018 – Today, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) announced its Digital Development and Acceleration of Skills Hub Initiative (Digital DASH Initiative) as part of the federal government’s CanCode program. ICTC’s Digital DASH Initiative is an 17-month program for grades 6-12 that will equip both students and educators with experiential learning opportunities to create strong pathways towards digital careers.The Digital DASH Initiative will:

• Engage over 5,300 students and 500 teachers across the country
• Provide teacher training to support integration of digital skills in the classroom
• Work with schools to introduce ICTC’s Focus on Information Technology (FIT) and Middle Years FIT (MYFIT) certificate programs into curriculum
• Offer work-integrated learning opportunities for students
• Measure impact through youth ambassadors
• Build supportive education-industry aligned skills frameworks and pathways for youth
• Reach underrepresented groups and underserved locations

“Growth in digital jobs has outpaced every other sector of the Canadian economy by 6 to 1 in 2017, preparing Canada’s youth for tomorrow’s job market is pivotal for stimulating future innovations and business growth in a global market.” – Namir Anani, ICTC President & CEOYouth are Canada’s future innovators, creators, entrepreneurs and solution providers. It is increasingly vital to encourage them to build digital skills and develop the kind of computational thinking, entrepreneurial, creative and complex problem-solving skills that are required in today’s world. By becoming fluent in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) and digital skills, youth will achieve the tools and knowledge required to be active participants in a competitive digital economy, using their skills to fuel Canada’s innovation and growth.“Coding is the next big job. Industries ranging from automotive and agri-food to the life sciences and clean technology need coders, given their increasingly digital nature. That’s why our government is equipping Canadian youth with the digital skills they need for the jobs of the future. By teaching kids to code today, we’re positioning Canada for future success across all industries and sectors.” – The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic DevelopmentThe Digital DASH Initiative is offered through CanCode, a $50-million federal program that gives students from kindergarten to grade 12 the opportunity to learn coding and other digital skills. The funding will also provide 63,000 Canadian teachers with the tools needed to educate Canadian youth on these skills. CanCode is a Budget 2017 commitment aiming to teach digital skills to over one million Canadian students and their teachers.With funding from:

About ICTC: The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) is a not-for-profit national centre of expertise for the digital economy. Through forward looking research, evidence-based policy advice, and creative capacity building programs, ICTC fosters innovative and globally competitive Canadian industries empowered by a talented and diverse digital workforce. For more information, visit: www.ictc-ctic.ca. For media inquiries, please contact: Stephanie Wilson, Director - Strategic Outreach (office) 613-237-8551 extension 147 or by email at s.wilson@ictc-ctic.ca