The ‘Digital Athletes’ online camp recently organised as part of the 13th edition of Katara Tech Forum successfully concluded with the participation of hundreds of children aged seven to 14. A total of 644 children took part in 40 workshops of the virtual camp organised in a span of two weeks, said the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) in a social media post yesterday.
‘Digital Athletes’ online camp organised by Studio 5/6 under the Ministry of Transport and Communications in collaboration with Katara aimed to “enhance kids’ talents on sports and technology while safe at home,” said Studio 5/6. Catered to children in two age groups, the camp comprised six different projectbased workshops each running for five days.
For children aged seven to 10, the workshops included Sports and 3D Scanning, Aim and Catch, and Code and Play while those aged 11 to 14 took part in Ping Pong Coding, Sports Equipment Modeling, and Hurdling Games workshops. The workshops explored the online 3D scanning tools used to customise sports equipment, saw the participants use different coding software to create a race with customized rules and designs, and looked into various software used to create digital competitions in different virtual sports, among others.
The camp was presented by Studio 5/6 — “a Fab Lab set up by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to nurture kids and youth as digital learners by sharpening their 21st century learning skills, as they develop in an all-pervasive digital environment.”
Katara Tech Forum aims to spread public awareness of information technology on a large scale and make it available to all as a key factor in the development of creative and knowledge capabilities. The forum promotes learning on the latest developments in the world of information and communication technology, besides reviewing and presenting best practices and international standards in Qatar and the world.
The initiative also aims at contributing to the implementation of the goals targeted by Qatar National Vision 2030 as well as enhancing cooperation with scientific institutions and organisations in Qatar and beyond, in addition to fostering ties with local government bodies working to meet National Vision 2030 goals in the field of information technology.
The forum also eyes bridging the gap between tech-savvy youth interested in information technology and the information technology-based institutions through hosting specialised conferences, symposia, and lectures on latest information and digital technology issues and breakthroughs.
