Samsung Electronics believes that technology has great potential to make lives better. Through strengths in innovation and technology, Samsung will play their part in solving some of the global challenges and to contributing to a better society.

This is why Samsung has established 1,300 Smart Classrooms, 65 Digital Academies, as well as numerous other partnership programmes across Europe. These programmes are about more than just providing physical hardware. Teachers are trained and connected to a community which inspires curriculum enrichment. Students are empowered to learn important digital skills through coding, website and app development and enhance their learning through technology.

Samsung believes in creating the classrooms of tomorrow. In Europe there is a growing digital skills gap so all Samsung citizenship programmes aim to inspire the next generation of innovators and teach them 21st century skills. This will prepare students for the jobs of the future.

Digital skills for all ages

The programmes are also designed to activate digital learning at all ages.

Samsung Smart Classrooms teach the fundamentals of digital skills during the core developmental years, 6-16 years old; whilst Samsung Digital Academies are aimed at young people aged 16-24 who need digital skills to boost their employability.

Evelyn Nicola (Sustainability & Citizenship Manager, Samsung Europe) speaking at the IFA 2016 press conference about Citizenship programmes in Europe.

One example of a Digital Academy is the Samsung Campus in Paris. France’s top IT school EPITECH and non-profit ZUP CO offer intensive training for young people not currently in education. The programme inspires young people to re-join the job market with new skills.

Christophe, 26, is about to complete his training at the Samsung Campus in fall;

“The training at Samsung Campus has allowed me to develop sought-after digital skills and I have now secured a permanent contract for after I complete my training. I can enter the job market with confidence!”

In addition to Smart Classrooms and Tech Institutes, Samsung has worked tirelessly to develop partnerships with some of the world’s leading organisations to reach more people together.

In the United Kingdom, Samsung has been working with the British Museum since 2009; sponsoring an engaging and innovative digital learning programme and education space. The Museum’s Samsung Digital Discovery Centre (SDDC) offers free digital sessions for schools, families and teens.  Since opening the SDDC has welcomed over 80,000 visitors and technology is one of the top reasons teachers choose to book a session. Students are able to discover the Museum’s unparalleled collection in creative and educational ways, using Samsung’s latest technology. Visitors have even been taken back to the Bronze Age to see objects in their original settings, using Samsung Gear VR headsets. The use of virtual reality technology has proved to very popular with the Museum’s visitors, with one participant remarking:

“It made me feel as if I was actually there and gave me a sense of how things actually were in the Bronze Age”

New MakerBot Partnership

At IFA 2016, Samsung Electronics Europe announced its latest partnership with MakerBot EMEA, a global leader in 3D printing technology.

Andreas Langfeld (General Manager of MakerBot EMEA) speaking at the IFA 2016 press conference about the Samsung and MakerBot partnership.

The programme will launch its first phase in schools, colleges and museums within five key European markets: Germany, Italy, Spain, UK & Sweden. 3D printers and a full set of solutions will be allocated within the already established network of Samsung programmes.

This partnership aims to inspire creativity by combining design and coding classes with 3D printing so students can experience the full design cycle as a way to develop ideas and innovate. This will equip the next generation of architects, engineers, product designers and innovators are needed to keep up with the fast pace of technological advancement.

The future of Citizenship

The Samsung Electronics Corporate Citizenship team will continue to partner with like-minded companies that share the same ambitions in digital education and bring something unique to our network. Next steps will be to develop a network of excellence centres who can share their content. Samsung wants young people to tell their stories, and inspire others across Europe.

In the words of Evelyn Nicola, Samsung Europe’s Sustainability & Citizenship Manager;

“Along with MakerBot, we call on other brands at IFA to join us, as we prepare the young people of today for the jobs of the future”

Samsung Electronics Europe today announces that it is joining forces with MakerBot, a global leader in the desktop 3D printing industry, to inspire the next generation of innovators by bringing 3D printers to classrooms across Europe.

Samsung and MakerBot are equipping schools, colleges and museums with 3D printers as part of Samsung’s digital skills programme so that students at any grade level can both code and create. The planned first phase launches in Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Sweden this year and builds on Samsung’s network of 1,300 Smart Classrooms and 65 Digital Academies.

The vision behind the partnership is to combine design and coding classes with 3D printing so students can experience the full design cycle as a way to develop ideas and innovate. With MakerBot, educators and students have access to a full set of solutions and services that enables them to tackle real-world problems.

“In response to the alarming skills gap and high levels of youth unemployment in 2013, we backed the European Commission’s Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs with a pledge to engage 400,000 young people across Europe by 2019. We will achieve our goal 3 years early so we can now invest further in educating thousands of young people in the latest digital skills.” says Evelyn Nicola, Sustainability & Citizenship Manager, Samsung Europe.

“Our partnership with MakerBot will support a network of ‘Lighthouse Schools’ – centres of excellence for digital learning across Europe – to teach technology skills and encourage design and manufacture. Just imagine a 9 year old girl with her idea for a new design, being able to turn her idea at school into reality and take home. Experiencing the entire creation journey, from idea to digital concept to physical object represents the future of learning and R&D.”

“Samsung and MakerBot share the same vision of developing new technologies that help prepare students for the jobs of the future,” said Andreas Langfeld, General Manager of MakerBot EMEA. “3D printing can help teach many of the 21st century skills that employers are looking for and applying knowledge to the real world. We’re excited to partner with Samsung to help even more educators and students discover the power of 3D printing.”

Europe has particularly high youth unemployment. Many young people leave education without the digital and soft skills that their future jobs demand. At the same time education systems are struggling to respond to the changing needs of employers. Some teachers also lack the support and confidence to adapt how they teach to match the increasingly digital world. To address these challenges, Samsung focused its European citizenship programmes on digital education and employability. It helps young people to experience how digital skills can open new doors to their future through two core programmes:

• Firstly, Smart Classrooms create new learning opportunities for 6 – 16 year olds. Since 2013, over 1,300 Smart Classrooms have opened across 20 countries in Europe. Samsung not only provide technology, but also offer educational content and teach digital skills, such as coding to students and teachers.
• The second programme, Digital Academies is Samsung’s targeted contribution to tackling the digital skills gap.  There are over 65 across Europe.  In these learning centres, 16 – 24 year olds can access smart technology, ICT training and employability programmes to help their transition from education to employment.

About MakerBot

MakerBot, a subsidiary of Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS), believes there’s an innovator in everyone, and sets the standard in reliability and ease of use. As a global leader in the desktop 3D printing industry, MakerBot offers a set of solutions that illuminate and guide every stage of the 3D printing process, making it easy to go from idea to end result. Founded in 2009, MakerBot has one of the largest installed bases in the industry with more than 100,000 MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers sold to date. MakerBot also runs Thingiverse, the largest 3D printing community in the world. The company’s industry-leading customers include designers, educators, engineers, and consumers. To learn more about MakerBot, visit makerbot.com.