Welcome to Big Data High
SAINT JOHN – Over 875 high school students from across New Brunswick packed the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre on Wednesday to attend a different kind of class.
Big Data High is the final event of the Big Data Congress which took place this week in Saint John. The student event, organized by T4G and TechImpact, aimed to help New Brunswick high school students learn how to power their personal passions with technology. Students heard from national and provincial tech and entrepreneurial leaders about their journies and how students could use technology to not only build a career but even change the world. Speakers included Leslie McBeth from the Future Design School; Dhirendra Shukla, UNB’s TME director (Technology Management and Entrepreneurship); David Alston, CIO of Introhive and former CMO for Radian6; Jeff Wilson, executive director of Brilliant Labs and Sarah Short of the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.
For Janet Wilson, a teacher at Harbour View High School in Saint John, exposing her students to the possibilities of a career in tech benefits not only them but the province as a whole.
“I’ve always been an advocate of business and IT. I think if you get a good education in those fields that you can have a great career in New Brunswick, which is amazing,” Wilson said. “Also, I think it’s one of the ways we’re going to solve the economic issues of the province, so I think getting kids to be entrepreneurs and learn how to code and develop programming is going to bring us a long way.
Wilson brought a mix of students of different backgrounds to the event. Some are serious about a career in tech, while others were just exploring their options. One of those students was Liz Delaney, whose interest in tech was sparked when Brilliant Labs gave a presentation at the school a few weeks ago.
“I don’t necessarily know exactly what I want to do yet, so seeing this is giving me some exposure to it and may be helping me decide whether this is the path to go down,” the grade 11 student said.
“I want to learn how people figured out that they wanted to pursue this and what really sparked their interest in it,” she said. “Because I do think it’s really cool, especially [since] technology is such a big deal now and in the future, that’s what everything is going to be based on. It’s better to have people know what’s going on first and get involved before it fully comes through.”
Wilson said she hopes her students left the event inspired.
“What I hope the students who are familiar with IT and computer science take away is just what a strong presence we have in Saint John for IT companies and what an opportunity there is here,” she said. “And for students who may not be as familiar, I hope they just come away with passion and interest that they’re going to dive into it a little bit more and perhaps catch ‘the bug.’ It might lead to some careers in the room, so that’s fantastic.”