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Hamilton, Axa XL sponsor hackathon

Tech focus: participants pictured at a previous Code441 hackathon (File photograph)

Hamilton Insurance Group and Axa XL have joined forces to sponsor Code441’s annual hackathon.

The event, which aims to teach local young people the fundamentals of coding, is to be held on December 20, 2019.

Between 50 and 75 young people will gather to spend a full day exploring how the web works and getting hands-on experience in building and designing apps. They’ll also have access to in-depth and expert teaching by local and international tech professionals, including Code441’s founder Jahde Eve, a Bermudian-born software engineer who works in Silicon Valley, California.

Patrick Tannock, managing director and chief executive officer of Axa XL’s Bermuda insurance operations, said: “We’re aligned with Code 441’s mission and during the past five years we’ve proudly supported them by hosting their annual hackathon in our Bermuda office.

“We’re excited about our new partnership with Hamilton in sponsoring this event. We are thrilled to continue to expose our young people to the opportunity to acquire fundamental skill sets.

“This will enable them to participate and thrive in a digital world so they are ready not just for the blue collar and white collar jobs but also the new collar jobs that will and are being created due to the relentless pace of technological change.”

Pina Albo, Hamilton’s CEO, added: “We’re delighted to join Patrick and the rest of the Axa XL team in bringing this hackathon to life for Bermuda’s young people. As a committed sponsor of Code441 over the last year, Hamilton has witnessed the many benefits of the scheme in teaching young people practical computer science skills and sparking in them a love for coding and app design.

“Now, more than ever, it’s important for young people to be digitally literate so they can thrive locally in the classroom setting and on jobs, as well as internationally as they compete with their peers from around the world.”

Founded in 2014, Code441’s mission is to empower and mentor the island’s young people by encouraging them to embrace the current tech marketplace as builders and content creators.

Working together with leading educators, engineers, and entrepreneurs, the non-profit aims to one day establish a new model for computer science education, web design, and mobile development for Bermuda’s students.

Code441 sees this as an important step in ensuring the prosperity of Bermuda on the global stage and through its hackathons and mini-hackathons aims to teach children 21st century tools for innovation and social change.

By exposing more Bermudians to computer science at a young age, the hope is it will lead to more of them working in the technology and engineering fields.

For more information or to register for the hackathon on December 20, visit www.code441.com