Youth Innovation Day at #BCTECH Summit

VANCOUVER – B.C.’s next generation of tech talent attended the #BCTECH Summit this week, on March 15th. They were inspired by 13-year-old tech prodigy Tanmay Bakshi, and explored career opportunities by using an augmented reality scavenger hunt at Youth Innovation Day.

This generation represents tomorrow’s software developers, technology entrepreneurs, and innovators, said Premier Christy Clark. B.C.’s technology sector is growing fast, which means incredible career opportunities for these students, and the chance to build a career right here at home.

On Wednesday, approximately 2,500 B.C. secondary and post-secondary school students discovered the technology programs available from colleges and universities, listened to inspiring tech leaders share how technology is changing the world and they met representatives from innovative technology companies in British Columbia. Nearly half of the day’s youth participants visited the #BCTECH Summit from Vancouver Island, the Interior and northern B.C.

Students heard thirteen year-old Tanmay Bakshi, honorary IBM Cloud Adviser, share his personal story of learning to code from age five, and how he developed his first iPhone app by the time he was nine years old. “I believe that we need to be introducing coding to kids, and what I usually say is that we have to start slow, start easy and start playful. Kids should do what they want to do. Don’t do it because you have to do it, but do it because you want to. If we can get the youth interested in technology, then I believe we can be ready for that next generation,” said Tanmay Bakshi.

The morning scavenger hunt provided by Vancouver based technology company, QuestUpon, transformed technology career exploration into a game for the students. By using QuestUpon’s augmented reality mobile game, the students were encouraged to connect with tech industry sub-sectors, and interact with over 40 exhibitors throughout the summit. “We saw Youth Innovation Day as a perfect opportunity to show off our social augmented reality platform by turning the #BCTECH Summit into a game. That way youth would be challenged to interact with all the different exhibitors while getting to explore independently and with other students. While they moved about the Summit, they also interacted with augmented reality and gained points for participating,” said Tammy Meyers, QuestUpon co-founder and chief operating officer.

This video clip below is one of the augmented reality animals to interact with during the scavenger hunt at the #BCTECH Summit, located at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

https://vimeo.com/208873055

The #BCTECH Summit compliments the #BCTECH Strategy, which is a key component of the BC Jobs Plan to support the growth of B.C.’s vibrant technology sector and strengthen British Columbia’s diverse innovation economy. The multi-year strategy includes a $100-million BC Tech Fund and initiatives to increase talent development through new curriculum and coding, and market access for tech companies that is driving innovation and productivity throughout the province. For more information, visit: http://bctechsummit.ca

About QuestUpon – Creating in augmented reality since 2011. Interactive and engaging experiences for the 21st century audience, bringing things to life in the real world with technology, including 3-dimensional and animated augmented reality. QuestUpon provides a full range of uses to the user, providing a new way to experience their environment for an extreme level of engagement. The platform allows for a variety of quest types including urban races, guided tours, treasure hunts and games.  The founders have a long history in mobile platform and game development with their associate company, PlayMobility. For more information visit www.questupon.com. 2015 Award recipient for ‘Most Innovative Entertainment Company’, by tech industry organization, DigiBC. Selected for 2017 Ready to Rocket list.