“Europe Code Week is a grassroots initiative which aims to bring coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way”. 15th October – 23rd October “We need to speed up the upgrading of digital skills, including coding. If you want to be successful at your job, in your business and in the production sector you need to have a portfolio of digital skills. EU Code Week provides an opportunity to learn a digital skill that is essential on the job market”. – Günther H.Oettinger, Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy and Society In 2015, 46 countries took part in EU Code Week – all EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. Events took place in Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, South Korea, Moldova, Morocco, Taiwan, Tunisia, Ukraine and the United States. There were 83 code week Ambassadors, 7600 coding events with a reach of over 570,000 people from all the 46 countries. EU Code Week aims at celebrating the art of creating with code, motivating people to start learning to code, as well as connecting individuals, groups, organizations and companies who are willing to help more people experience the joy and relevance of coding As part of its strategy for a Digital Single Market, the European Commission supports EU Code Week and other independent initiatives which aim to boost digital skills, including programming, for different target groups. Coding empowers you to do many things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do such as; hand-crafting your own websites, becoming a career coder or even starting a technology business. Most importantly, you’ll be able to understand the technology shaping your world. Learning coding has many benefits – whether you’re looking for a career in the industry, starting a new hobby or just wanting to understand technology. eSkills Malta Foundation will once again be participating in the EU Code Week. This year the Foundation will be collaborating with both MCAST and the Faculty of ICT – University of Malta by organising a series of sessions on various coding subjects, one of the most popular being ‘Building your first mobile app in 2 hours’. These sessions are aimed for all age groups (with minimal knowledge of computing required) and are free of charge.