In Milan, Coding Girls Power Up puts skills and ideas to the test through real-world challenges
Tomorrow, Wednesday 8 April, the national tour Coding Girls & Women stops off in Milan with an event dedicated to Coding Girls Power Up, the project promoted in partnership with Micron Foundation to strengthen digital skills and reduce the gender gap in STEM subjects. Hosting the final hackathon of the programme aimed at upper secondary schools is the Casa di Quartiere Lessona in Municipality 8. An intensive day of work is planned, during which 91 students, organised into 17 teams, will put the technical skills and design abilities developed over the previous months to the test.
From training to the project: learning by doing
The hackathon marks the culmination of a training programme structured around three workshop sessions, during which classes worked on artificial intelligence, data science and cybersecurity, with applications also in the automotive sector. In the final sessions, the groups developed project work based on concrete problems relevant to their daily lives. The aim is not only to devise solutions, but to verify their feasibility, build prototypes and cultivate a rigorous approach to design. During the hackathon, the selected teams face a new challenge: in just a few hours, they must analyse the problem, propose a solution, validate it quickly and create an MVP, using generative AI tools and rapid prototyping techniques.
A challenge based on real-world problems, with clear criteria
Projects are assessed on the basis of explicit criteria: quality of problem analysis, coherence and validation of the solution, level of innovation and clarity of the pitch. An approach that rewards practicality and the ability to synthesise: not technical complexity, but the soundness of the idea and its applicability.
Schools, business and the local community: an ecosystem in action
Five classes from the C.E. Gadda school in Paderno Dugnano and the G.L. Lagrange school in Milan are taking part in the initiative, accompanied by eight teachers. Alongside trainers from the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, professionals from Micron Technologies are also involved, engaged in mentoring, evaluation and role modelling. In total, the project involves 16 corporate volunteers throughout the programme.
The choice of the Lessona Community Centre is no coincidence: the space, managed by a network of local organisations, serves as a meeting point between schools, institutions and the community. It is an environment that allows students to work on real-world challenges, whilst also discovering places and opportunities within their own city.
A national programme for the skills of the future
Coding Girls Power Up forms part of the wider Coding Girls & Women programme, supported by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, and contributes to a structural objective: increasing girls’ participation in technical and scientific fields. The starting point remains critical: less than 30% of researchers worldwide are women, with an even lower presence in the fields of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Taking action at school level means influencing future choices, working together on skills, career guidance and role models.
