Introduction
This program is a series of creative technology events for kids aged 7 to 10 and teens aged 11 to 15. We give participants tools and materials to express their creativity in community with others. Tools that allow young talent to be curious and compassionate towards each other and the world around them. The program aims to empower young talent to take control over their future and not just passively consume what someone else has designed for them.
Our program is designed to be a fun series of individual and group activities that brings together teams, novel ideas, and an entrepreneurial spirit to dream up and build elegant new solutions to solve everyday problems. It will provide a venue for critical thinking, creativity, and self-expression through technology. We will be delivering activities which help young talent make sense of today’s digital landscape. At the end of the project, participants will brainstorm and create mini hands-on projects to apply their learning to real-life problems - we want our teens to become savvy tech prosumer who think for themselves!
Scope of the program
In the last decade, the growth of Internet and other web technologies driven fast developments of various networking technologies that are becoming primary parts of our daily lives. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the technology, which forms the foundation of today’s smart cities, self-driving vehicles, industrial automation, e-healthcare, intelligent infrastructure, etc. The IoT is a network used to interconnect any objects which are able to communicate and interact with the external environment, all via the Internet. Examples of objects that can fall into the scope of IoT include connected security systems, lights, thermostats, cars, electronic appliances, in household and commercial environments, alarm clocks, speaker systems, vending machines, smart watches and more.
Connecting objects around us to the Internet introduces new opportunities for all that information to be compromised. Not only is more data being shared through the IoT, among many more participants, but more sensitive data is being shared. As a result, cyber security breaches risks are exponentially greater. To illustrate, consider a house entry system where the IoT-enabled smart garage door is equipped with additional functionality to deactivate the home alarm upon entry. While this feature is convenient to the homeowner, now the entire alarm system could be deactivated by hackers when only the garage door opener is compromised. The broad range of connected home devices offers many connection points for hackers to gain entry into IoT ecosystems, access users information, or even penetrate devices manufacturers’ back-end systems.
Who can participate?
Anyone aged 7 to 15 interested to explore their talents in the field of cyber security and IoT and perhaps earning a trophy for their skills! No prerequisite knowledge or technology experience is needed. We will provide a laptop, IoT kit, food, prizes, and more for this event! We understand that participants will need additional help and support, and we have staff to make sure they can succeed.
