Class moments at a meeting of tech minds in Cork (video)

9 Mar 2012

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Liao

A portrait of youth and industry discussing tech’s future. Entrepreneurship and the empowerment of kids through coding was the key theme of it@cork’s recent Tech Tuesday featuring entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Liao.

We’re sharing this video with you for two reasons – firstly because tech industry group it@cork has just launched a YouTube channel and secondly because it captures something really interesting that illustrates how a region like Cork can naturally sit at the intersection of core technology trends, from coding to cloud.

The video begins with it@cork chairman Denis Collins setting out his mission for the organisation and its collaborative model for tackling issues like skills, broadband and start-ups and stimulating growth in the Cork region.

Following an introduction by Cork entrepreneur Mike McGrath of Supply.ie, Liao then provides a fascinating discourse on entrepreneurship and gaining traction for new products.

And then Liao discusses the CoderDojo movement, in which a broad spectrum of Cork’s technology community, from 13-year-old coders like Harry Moran, parents of children who code, members of the local IT industry in Cork and local academics, have become involved.

It says something about the spirit of our times and how inclusive this technology revolution can be.

A great stand-out moment happens when Liao describes the “That’s class” moment when kids realise how a little bit of code they’ve written becomes their first website. Enjoy.

 

  

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com