An app to schedule Facebook posts, a website to tackle youth unemployment and an online quiz game are only 3 of the projects developed by the code boot campers. The first batch of School of Code Bootcamp recruits presented their products to over 100 possible employers and supporters from the tech industry.
On demo day, Wednesday January 17th, the code bootcampers prepare to show off their digital products
"Code can be for anyone," says organiser
Chris Meah, founder of the School of Code, explains why this can be for anyone, from any background. Watch him talk at demo day about what mattered most throughout the programme.
The School of Code Bootcamp gathered 19 people, in five teams, for a 16-week intensive training into the secrets of coding. Selected out of 300 applicants, they came from very different backgrounds: a full-time mum, a former warehouse worker, a refugee, a geologist, a bakery owner. According to the organisers, most of them had no previous experience or knowledge in the field. They were trained for free and had the chance to show their projects in front of industry representatives.
Meet the code recruits and their projects
On the demo day, business representatives met the teams and their projects, at iCentrum, Innovation Campus Birmingham. Let us see what each of them developed and what their motivation was:
- Stagger wanted to help with busy Facebook and Twitter taking up too much time and confusing users. Their social media scheduling platform utilises intelligent tagging and auto-GIF based on keywords to make posting more fun and interactive.
- MapMyCV (above) developed a website to tackle youth unemployment. They produced a platform for creating a digital CV, which is content-based, visual and searchable for an employer.
- Risky Quizness created the interactive competitive retro quiz game with a space theme. Their motivation, as expressed at the demo day: the gaming industry is in constant development, and everybody loves a good quiz.
- School of Code Website re-designed the website to present 3 areas of the company: Schools, Bootcamp and Consultancy.
- Movies With Mates put together a mobile app to connect moviegoers at local cinemas in Birmingham and promote social inclusion. Users can browse cinemas in the area and socialise with other people wanting to watch the same movies.
"Impressed" by the real-life working applications
The Bootcamp initiative gained support from tech names such as Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO at Stemettes, a company which aims at getting more girls and women into the industry. Also, nearly 50 representatives of local business showed interest as guests at the demo day.
Watch Tom Haworth, local tech business director, talk about how impressed he was by the teams' achievements:
