February 24, 2019

Accenture and Expo 2020 Dubai Pledge 2,020 Hours of Coding Tutorials to UAE Students

‘Hour of Code’ sessions for primary school students to be held weekly at Expo 2020 Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates; Feb. 24, 2019 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Expo 2020 Dubai have committed to hosting 2,020 hours of coding tutorials for UAE-based primary school students before the World Expo opens on Oct. 20, 2020. The ‘2020 Hours of Code’ initiative will help students build invaluable critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, useful to all students regardless of their career interests.

The ‘2020 Hours of Code’ initiative, announced during the UAE Innovation Month 2019, extends an ongoing partnership between Expo 2020 Dubai and Accenture. As Digital Services Premier Partner and Systems Integrator for Expo 2020, Accenture will host coding skills development sessions for young learners across the Emirates in the time leading up to Expo 2020, enabling them to develop coding and computer science skills in a fun and engaging environment.

“We are proud to announce this important initiative that builds on our robust partnership with Expo 2020,” said Gerardo Canta, who leads Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology practice in the Middle East & Turkey. “As the UAE strives to cement its position as a digital hub in the region, it is essential that our youth are fluent in coding to meet these aspirations. Though delivering more than 2,000 hours of coding is an ambitious target, it is a testament to our passion and commitment to equipping this nation’s youth with the right tools to succeed.”

Delivered in collaboration with the Expo School Programme, the weekly sessions will take place at the Expo 2020 Dubai Visitor Centre. In addition to providing computers for the sessions, Accenture will lead tutorials in both Arabic and English to ensure that all participating students benefit from the experience.

Mohammed Alhashmi, Expo 2020’s chief technology officer for Innovation and Future Technology, said: “In line with Expo’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, the 2020 Hours of Code initiative will enable young people to explore exciting concepts while developing new skills that will empower them in their future careers. Together with Accenture, we aim to help take our youth’s digital literacy to the next level.”

In recent years, coding has become an important focus for the UAE’s leadership, with the launch of initiatives such as ‘One Million Arab Coders’, announced in 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Accenture has participated in Hour of Code initiatives since 2015. Last year, nearly 2,500 Accenture employees committed to teach an hour of code at local events in their communities, helping to inspire more than 100,000 students around the world to learn coding and computer science skills.

About Expo 2020 Dubai
Expo 2020 Dubai is guided by the belief that innovation and progress are the result of people and ideas combining in new ways. For six months starting 20 October, 2020, Expo will bring together 190 countries and millions of people to celebrate human ingenuity: ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
Visit: www.expo2020dubai.com
Follow: Twitter: @expo2020dubai | Facebook: @Expo2020Dubai | Instagram: expo2020dubai

About World Expos
In 1851 the Crystal Palace was the centrepiece of London’s Great Exhibition — the first World Expo. It celebrated the man-made industrial wonders of a rapidly changing world. Architecture, contents and a theme, ‘Industry of All Nations’, were combined to create a big idea of nations meeting nations in shared technological and commercial progress. In more recent years, participants in World Expos, including governments, international organisations and companies, have gathered to find solutions to universal challenges and to promote their achievements, products, ideas, innovations, their national brand, and their nations as destinations for tourism, trade and investment.

World Expos are held under the auspices of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating international exhibitions (‘Expos’) and for fostering their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation. Today, four types of Expos are organised under the BIE’s auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 469,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

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Contact:

Theodore Halabi
Accenture
+971 50 662 7053
theodore.halabi@accenture.com