Longford pupils successfully complete Scratch Software Ericsson Pilot

Longford pupils successfully complete Scratch Software Ericsson Pilot
Five Longford schools participate in programme under Midlands ICT plan

Press Release 
31 July 2023 

Longford County Council is delighted to congratulate the 170 Longford primary school pupils who received their certificate from technology giant Ericsson, for completing their INFUSE schools’ programme this year.

The INFUSE (Investing in Future Software Engineers) programme, is a Midlands pilot operating specifically in counties Longford, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath. It offered local pupils the chance to participate in an introductory module on coding software called ‘Introduction to Scratch Software’. Scratch is a visual programming language that makes it easy to create interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art.

This schools programme was developed by Ericsson in response to proposals brought forward by Midlands ICT Cluster - Skills and Talent Working Group comprising of regional stakeholders: industry, education providers and staff from the local authority working on building a career pathway in ICT for the residents of our region and our digital future.

The pilot programme aligned perfectly with the ‘Longford County Council Digital Strategy Centred and Connected’ and the goals of the Midlands ICT Action Plan. The Action Plan seeks to enable deep collaboration across academia, industry, enterprise agencies and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) as well as the research and business communities, in support of the vision of the Midlands ICT Cluster. A key part of this is the ongoing active links in place between industry and the Technical University Shannon (TUS).

Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Colm Murray congratulated all involved. “These collaborations represent a huge vote of confidence in the future of our counties, well done to all the children and teachers who got involved.”

Chief Executive of Longford County Council Paddy Mahon said, “Longford County Council is committed to availing of every resource to help shape Longford’s digital future and we are delighted to have the Midlands ICT Cluster in place bringing programmes like this to our local schools through working with regional industry such as Ericsson.”

Sinead Pillion, Head of Programs and Operations at Ericsson Athlone and the Chairperson for the Midlands ICT Cluster said, “Ericsson are extremely proud to be part of such an important initiative. It was wonderful to see such creativity and innovation from all the young students.  It’s clear that the future of engineering is in good hands”.

It is hoped that the collaboration between Ericsson and Longford, Laois, Offaly and Westmeath County Councils across the midland region will help to drive demand from pupils to study computer science subjects in second level schools.

In Longford the following primary schools successfully completed the Scratch Module:

To view the Midlands ICT Cluster Action Plan see more www.midlandsireland.ie/business/clusters.

For further information, check out Longfordcoco.ie or follow Longford County Council on social media.