A group of young people from South Auckland are on a mission to get more young people interested in technology as a career. They've organised the inaugural Y-Tech 2K18, a full day event of speakers and workshops for youth aged 15 to 18.
A technology event for youth, by youth.
16 year old Manurewa High School student, John Chen, helped come up with the idea and organise the event. He says it's about, "Providing the opportunity for youth. Technology is an option and the tech sector is going to change the world."
"We really want them to see that techonolgy is a cool pathway to actually achieve you know something different for them but also their families."
Participating in the event is Manurewa High School Student, Jennifer (Ngāpuhi), who says, "It really gives us a sense of hope and potential that we can make something out of ourselves."
Students from 40 Auckland schools heard keynote speakers and took part in workshops covering robotics, computer aided design, artificial intelligence (AI), game creation and 3D printing.
Highlighting some of the skills, Jennifer says ,"Figuring new uses for things, how we can sell it, what caters to people, what are people going to buy."
Chen says, "Hone the skills like creative thinking and problem solving and I think we just need to look forward to the future."
Organisers CreateOps say that whether or not the students choose a career in technology, they will benefit from the skills acquired.
"Technology is part of every business today, no matter what you do you need to know something about technology," Edwina Mistry (CreateOps).
CreateOps hope to take the Y-Tech initiative around New Zealand.