Congressional Internet Caucus Co-Chairs Announce 2016 Student Coding Challenge

2016 CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE CO-CHAIRS ANNOUNCED
Representatives Royce and Moulton will spearhead student coding contest

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Congressional Internet Caucus and the Internet Education Foundation announced the new Congressional Co-Chairs for the 2016 Congressional App Challenge (CAC), U.S. Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Seth Moulton (D-MA):

“As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a representative from the world’s innovation capital, I know how important a STEM proficient workforce is to the United States remaining an economic powerhouse. I encourage all of my colleagues to participate in the Congressional App Challenge, an excellent opportunity to recognize talented young people learning the skills being used to build the future,” said U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA).

“We are currently on track to reach a million unfilled programming jobs by 2020. These jobs and skills are crucial to the innovation economy,” said Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA). “I’m excited to serve as co-chair of the Congressional App Challenge with Rep. Ed Royce to encourage students across the country to learn how to code. This challenge is a nationwide effort to open up those opportunities to students in every community, and I look forward to seeing what they create.”

The 2016 CAC will take place from July 18 – November 2, 2016. Officially in its second year, the Congressional App Challenge is a bipartisan congressional initiative to improve student engagement in coding and computer science. Particular efforts are made to engage those students from groups and regions that are underrepresented in the tech community. Students can create their apps on any platform, working alone or in teams of up to four. Winning apps are selected by local judges, and the student winners will be honored by their Congressional representatives and have their apps put on display in the Capitol Building.

In 2015, over 1700 high school students from 32 states signed up to compete. The students submitted nearly 500 original apps, with 116 Congressional districts hosting successful local challenges. The House of Representatives displays the winning apps online at:http://www.house.gov/content/educate/app_challenge/.

The Congressional App Challenge is coordinated by the Internet Education Foundation and sponsored by Capital One, Intel, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services. Challenge efforts are guided by our esteemed Advisory Board, which includes Kimberly Snipes, Vice President of Consumer Products and Operations, Capital One; Monique Morrow, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Systems; Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation; Kathy DeerInWater, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Research, American Indian Science and Engineering Society; Emmeline Cardozo, Associate Director of Partner Engagement, Girls Who Code; and Mark Nelson, Executive Director, Computer Science Teachers Association.

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Representative Royce serves California’s 39th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties. He is Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Representative Moulton serves Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District. He served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer and was elected to Congress in 2014. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Budget Committee and the House Small Business Committee.

If you are interested in supporting the 2016 Congressional App Challenge, please contact CAC Executive Director Rhianon Anderson at [email protected].

MEDIA RELEASE

Contact: Rhianon Anderson, (650) 302-1799
[email protected]
Executive Director, Congressional App Challenge
www.CongressionalAppChallenge.us

June 6, 2016