Dungloe school becomes first Irish winner of international IT challenge

Rosses Community School in Dungloe has become the first-ever Irish winner of an information technology challenge which involves schools from the UK and Ireland.

The team of five Transition Year students from the school won the monthly Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) goIT (go Innovate Together) challenge to promote social inclusion for all by creating a digital innovation that empowers and encourages the inclusion of all people, regardless of their background.

The winning project from the students saw them develop their Coffair App which they designed to help reduce the exploitation of coffee farmers that are faced with language barriers when trying to negotiate fair prices for their goods. The innovative app would enable coffee farmers to connect with buyers in a global market to enable more transparency in the supply chain.

The winning students recently visited the TCS Global Delivery Centre in Letterkenny, where TCS provides IT services, consulting and business solutions on behalf of its many Irish and multinational customers. While visiting, the TY Economics Students Dylan Doherty, Cianán Mc Daid, Louie Mort, Eoghan O'Hagan and Darragh Davidson spent the morning in the TCS boardroom discussing their app idea with the TCS Leadership team Andrea McBride, Gerard Grant, Chris Lynch and CSR Manager Brian Kelly. TCS leadership were highly impressed with the Coffair app, the students’ detailed presentation, and their confidence. 

GoIT seeks to bridge the science, technology, maths and engineering (Stem) learning gap in schools and has benefited more than 130,000 students worldwide since 2009.  The initiative empowers students with the skills and practice and provides mentorship to prepare them for careers of the future.  To date, the international goIT monthly challenge has led to the design of more than 26,000 tech-for-good digital innovation prototypes by young innovators.

Commenting on the achievement, Brian Kelly, Tata Consultancy Services CSR Manager said: “I am thrilled that the Rosses Community School were the first Irish winners of the goIT challenge. This monthly challenge is a recurring opportunity for classrooms to directly engage in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the goIT digital innovation.  It is also an excellent opportunity for students all over Ireland to express their innovative ideas and gain valuable experience in presenting their ideas.”

Andrea McBride, Head of TCS global delivery centre said: “We were delighted to welcome the winning students to our global delivery centre in Letterkenny to present to our leadership team. It was great to hear about their fantastic innovation and to give them some information on our work at TCS, giving an overview of what we deliver to our customers around the globe and the employment opportunities available for their future in Donegal. We hope the goIT experience was a fun and creative way to learn more about STEM and computer science.”

The TCS goIT program aims to inspire students to consider a career in computer science and technology, spark curiosity in their minds and enhance confidence and employability.  It also works to empower students to design and develop innovative digital solutions for community problems, provide exposure and insight into varied roles within an IT company and the business world and challenge gender stereotypes by showcasing women in STEM as role models. TCS has a large presence in Ireland where it employs over 1,000 people located at the TCS Global Delivery Centre in Letterkenny.