Posted: 18/05/2017
The Digital Jersey Coding course is not only developing new talent for the island’s industry, it’s also helping a Jersey charity produce an innova…
The Digital Jersey Coding course is not only developing new talent for the island’s industry, it’s also helping a Jersey charity produce an innovative environmental tool to help farmers move away from using chemical fertilizers.
The Credible Food Project has been working with Jersey farmers to show it’s possible to farm profitably, while improving the quality of food and biodiversity of the island. Until now, it’s been difficult to scale-up the project because of the need to manage the recorded data, but that has all changed.
The Digital Jersey Coding course has taken on the idea as one of the practical course projects for its students. When completed the dynamic website will enable qualitative soil microbial assessments to be input into the site and then analysed and decoded so that farmers can be given a regenerative management programme and move away from reliance on chemical fertilisers.
Glyn Mitchell, founder of The Credible Food Project, has just returned from Rwanda where farmers are being skilled up in Carbon Smart Organic Farming methods. ‘For the first time ever we have been able to train up Rwandan Agricultural Board Lab technicians to input data which we can then analyse and decode here in Jersey and then return a plan to improve their soil health and ultimately produce healthier food and water. Not only has this been welcomed by Rwanda, but we are getting invites from Zambia, Malawi and Moldavia as well as other developing countries.’
The aim of the Digital Jersey coding course is to take people who are passionate about coding and turn them into entry-level developers. Applicants come from a range of backgrounds with the only criteria being a passion for coding and a desire to enter the digital industry. It means the island’s growing tech businesses have a steady stream of new talent.
Tony Moretta, CEO Digital Jersey said, ‘This is a great project for our coding course students to be working on and shows how the digital sector can work with the island’s established industries, such as agriculture, to produce innovative products and systems which will be used globally. Our coding course is a valuable resource for the tech industry, producing entry-level software developers who are being snapped up by companies in this growing sector.’
The DJ Coding course is now open for applicants and people can sign up online (until June 9th). The course is part time to enable people to continue with their current jobs. It’s also free for applicants. Dozens of students have now graduated and are working in the digital industry, or set up their own businesses.