World Computer Literacy Day: When solidarity can make communities strong

Today is World Computer Literacy Day, an initiative started by an Indian computer company that seeks to encourage the development of technological skills in women and children. I think we can all agree that today, being digitally literate is critical to opening doors to information, education, and employment.

Since they were launched in 2015, SAP has embraced the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and lays particular focus on “Number 4: Quality Education” as a goal where we believe we can provide the most value. Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is a key to escaping poverty – but in order to build an educated workforce, there needs to be an opportunity to learn.

Today we will dive into the stories of two of our SAP S/4HANA colleagues who have dedicated their free time and efforts into bridging the Digital Divide by helping others learn the skills to become computer literate:

Kalygul Zhunushbekov

Kalygul is part of an educational project called Chyrak (чырак). Based in Kyrgyzstan, this project has the goal of educating girls and women in information technology. Supported by expatriate mentors working in IT around the world, course participants get the education and training they need to earn money independently and gradually build an IT sector in Kyrgyzstan.

Why is this project important to you?

In Kyrgyzstan there are fewer women in the labor market than men – and the number is even lower in rural parts of the country. We wanted to tackle this problem using modern digital technologies.

The women should be able to open up ?and access new opportunities for themselves to earn money independently at home and abroad and to build an independent life. About 3-5000 girls and women of different ages and in different life situations continued their education for three-five months and proved themselves through the curriculum such as programming, coding, problem solving, business skills and teamwork.?With the acquired knowledge, they can discover their potential and open up opportunities to build an independent life. We hope that it will continue to form a larger part of the IT sector in Kyrgyzstan.

What have you learned from being involved with this project?

Participating in the project showed me that solidarity is part of living in a society: We ought to support one another and share our knowledge with others. In this project, I witnessed true sisterhood. Girls and women were able to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual support, true understanding, encouragement, and love. I think that the inspiration and energy of this project will have a positive impact on future generations.

World Computer Literacy Day encourages the development of tech skills in women and children: How important do you think this is?

It is very important for me that every woman gets an education in the digital world. World Computer Literacy Day motivates thousands to help millions. By the end of the project, the participants have greatly improved their computer skills: They can think critically, solve issues quickly, and analyze various types of data with confidence. They have learned to keep things positive, sometimes in a fast-paced, high-stress work environment and they learned how to collaborate well with those around them. These skills are crucial for women and children to develop. I hope that, in the future, we will be able to make better use of this day to amplify the message and have the opportunity to help millions.

How do you balance your time between your project and your daily work?

Research says our lives are made up of seven critical areas (health, family, materialism, education, sociability, professionalism, and spirituality) and we need to balance them throughout the day and participating in Chyrak helps me fulfill those areas. Sometimes I am tired from my work, but when I think about the outcome, and how thousands of people's lives can be changed for the better through this project, then I find I am motivated. It’s a matter of arranging our days carefully so that we can work without losing passion or energy.

?Link to project: https://choyro.com/

Jér?me Monteu Nana

As a founder and active member of the African Community at SAP, Jér?me learned about the Africa Code Week initiative in 2015. Keen to get involved, Jér?me contacted with the colleagues to find out how he could contribute and has been involved with the initiative ever since.

Why is Africa Code Week important to you?

It’s long been a wish of mine to help African people on the continent to improve their daily lives, especially in the field of education. As an IT expert, this was a great opportunity for me to contribute by helping to shaping the computer skills of African youth. People in Africa are gradually getting more access to computers, but more as a consumer than a producer – and this must change. This initiative supported by SAP and others helps African youth to develop and improve their programming skills, and to give them the abilities they need to venture into software development and other related careers. The Africa Code Week initiative provides exactly that.

What have you learned from being involved with this project?

Africa Code Week helps empower youth and teachers across the African continent with computer skills. Since 2015 I am the Africa Code Week Lead Ambassador for Cameroon and we have been very successful there with our strategy. After 7 years of activities in Cameroon we are proud to have reached more than 3 million kids. Nearly every student in Cameroon now knows something about SCRATCH (our programming language for educating youth in programming). Our next challenge will be the rural regions where access to electricity and computers is difficult. But there we already have a solution and we will focus more on computational thinking to give those kids a basic understanding on how computers work and the purpose of programming.

World Computer Literacy Day encourages the development of tech skills in women and children: How important do you think this is?

There is no doubt nowadays that tech skills are crucial for youth and women.?Personally, I’m very thankful to events like World Computer Literacy Day for shining the light on this issue. These skills help people ease their daily lives through access to online banking, weather reports for their agricultural activities, and much more. Thanks to SAP and partners, and thanks also to the understanding and good cooperation of most of the African participants in all the countries where we are active, we are contributing to bridging the digital divide and the gender skills gap on the African continent, providing the youth in Africa with the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.

How has working at SAP helped you with your project? What doors has it opened?

My answer is very simple: It’s an SAP initiative (with some partners) and therefore SAP has helped me to fulfill one of my dreams: To help people on the continent and really impact youth there. SAP provides me with everything I need to be successful. I’d like to thank SAP for this wonderful initiative and all the colleagues who are involved. We are really impacting the African continent with Africa Code Week. And it works both ways: It opens doors on both sides – for both SAP and the African continent. Through this initiative more and more people (government officials, businessmen, students, universities, schools) now know more about SAP and I think this is great for SAP itself.

?Link to project: www.africacodeweek.org