DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Liberty Global plc (“Liberty Global”) (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) today announced plans to build on its commitment to the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs by expanding its support for CoderDojo, the global community of free coding clubs for kids. The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is a multi-stakeholder partnership that was launched by the European Commission to boost digital skills and job creation through education and training opportunities, creating a pipeline of talent for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
To mark EU Code Week, Liberty Global will be actively taking part in a range of events across its European footprint spanning 12 countries to promote the importance of coding, including:
- The launch of a social media campaign aimed at finding champions and technical volunteers to start CoderDojo coding clubs in their community. The campaign centers around the playful notion that “Kids who can code have superpowers”, emphasizing that learning to code is an advantageous and powerful skill for the next generation of digital creators.
- Launch of an industry-led EU Code Platform, Europe’s first coding platform, offering students, teachers, developers or anyone curious about coding, access to resources and support.
- A special EU Parliament CoderDojo event on October 14, involving young coders from across Europe’s CoderDojo community teaching Members of European Parliament to write their first line of code.
- Direct scaling of new local CoderDojos in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Since becoming CoderDojo’s pan-European sponsor in January of this year, Liberty Global has helped the organization scale across Europe, ensuring more young people receive the opportunity to learn coding in a safe, social and creative environment.
Commenting on the partnership, Mary Moloney, CoderDojo’s CEO, said, “The support that Liberty Global has provided to CoderDojo and the new campaign we are launching means we can reach new communities of kids, young people and parents across Europe, giving them the digital skills they need to thrive in a global jobs market.”
Manuel Kohnstamm, Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of Liberty Global, stated, “Programming is a language, and we all know that any language is best learned when you are young. We are excited to support EU Code Week and the launch of the new EU Code Platform. Innovative digital teaching at a young age is essential for Europe’s growth and the marketplace of ideas of tomorrow.”
About EU Code Week
EU Code Week is an initiative of the young advisors to European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes. EU Code Week is about getting children, parents, teachers, entrepreneurs and policy makers to come together in events and classrooms to learn programming and related skills. The first EU Code Week took place in November 2013 and featured over 300 coding events involving more than 10,000 people in 26 European countries.
The initiative has attracted the support of coding and education movements like CoderDojo or Rails Girls and industry peers like Facebook, Google, Liberty Global, Microsoft, Rovio, and Telefónica.
About CoderDojo
CoderDojo is a global network of volunteer-led, independent, community based programming clubs for young people. These young people, between 7 and 17, learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and explore technology. In addition to learning to code attendees meet like-minded people and get to show off what they’ve been working on.
The global CoderDojo community is supported by the CoderDojo Foundation. The CoderDojo Foundation consists of a core team of dedicated individuals, founded by CoderDojo co-founder James Whelton, who are committed to focusing on supporting both new and existing Dojos through resource and community development, while also scaling CoderDojo through partnerships and creating awareness globally.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the largest international cable company with operations in 14 countries. We connect people to the digital world and enable them to discover and experience its endless possibilities. Our market-leading triple-play services are provided through next-generation networks and innovative technology platforms that connected 24 million customers subscribing to 49 million television, broadband and telephony services at June 30, 2014.
Liberty Global’s consumer brands include Virgin Media, UPC, Unitymedia, Kabel BW, Telenet and VTR. Our operations also include Liberty Global Business Services, our commercial division, and Liberty Global Ventures, our investment fund. For more information please visit www.libertyglobal.com.
