113 girls create games and apps about Riga at the special PyGirls 2024 hackathon

For the fourth year, the education technology organisation Datorium organised the PyGirls coding course for girls aged 14 to 20, giving them the opportunity to take their first steps into the world of programming and learn the Python programming language.

The course concluded on 25. maijā with a coding hackathon attended by 113 girls from across Latvia. In total, 35 teams of girls submitted their solutions. This year, the main supporter of PyGirls is Rīgas Dome, so the hackathon challenge was to create a game or app on the theme “Riga – the city of the future”. The 10 best teams presented their solutions to the jury in person at the final.

The final was judged by five experienced professionals in the field:

1. Anžela Džafarova, CEO of Datorium, an experienced teacher at schools and higher education institutions, a digital skills trainer and an expert in the use of AI technologies in education. Ambassador for the EU initiatives CodeWeek and DigiEduHack in Latvia.
2. Ieva Siliņa, Member of Parliament, external adviser to the President of Latvia on education and science policy, Chair of the Board of Latvijas Jauno zinātnieku apvienība, Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai” “Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK”, project manager at Latvijas Universitātes Cietvielu fizikas institūts, expert and adviser to SIA “Optilas Baltics”.
3. Vita Vītola-Lapiņa, project expert and digital skills specialist at Latvijas Informācijas un komunikācijas tehnoloģiju asociācija, with more than 15 years of experience managing European ICT and digital skills development projects.
4. Līna Sarma. Līna is a co-founder and board member of the Rīgas TechGirls community, which aims to inspire, encourage and support women and girls in pursuing careers in IT. For the past five years, she has also helped run Latvia’s central startup hub, TechHub Riga.
5. Elīna Līdere. Innovation Ecosystem Lead at LMT, a mobile technology innovator and Latvia’s leading mobile network operator. Elīna has more than 20 years of experience in the technology sector and is a 5G expert at the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA). She is also an active member of civil society as a co-creator of Riga TechGirls, a mentor to various startups and hackathons, the Vefresh innovation movement and others. Five teams received awards at the hackathon for the strongest performance in their respective categories. Each category was supported and its award presented by the company represented by the relevant jury member.
6. Riga City Council category, “Greatest future potential”:

The winner was team Kerida (Lorita Gulbe, Ketija Bernate, Anda Puriņa), which created an app offering tourists and Latvian residents important information about Riga.

1. Datorium category, “Best game”:

The winner was team Capybaras (Anželika Sjomina, Amanda Verpēja, Klinta Susojeva), which created a working game in which a capybara teaches the player healthy habits. The team stood out for the strong technical execution of its solution and its game code.

1. LIKTA category, “Most ingenious solution”:

The winner was team Golden Trio (Jana Ozolniece, Sandija Dzērve, Marta Indriksone), which created an interactive quiz about Riga featuring educational content on architecture, history and culture.

1. Riga Tech Girls category, “Best team”:

The winner was team PyMaths (Elizabete Anna Markova, Jana Kjapsna, Sofija Koniševa), which created “ExploRiga”, a game in which players could explore Riga’s historic buildings and complete logic challenges.

1. LMT award for “Most innovative idea”:

The winner was team Ingo (Anna Fabrika, Darja Skcvorcova, Svetlana Utkina), which created an educational platform for learning Latvian.

The girls have been very positive about the course. Programme participant Amēlija Jansone-Leiburga says: “I would like to say a huge thank you to Luīze for the programming lessons. I really enjoyed working with girls who share the same interests, as it allowed us not only to learn new things but also to share our experiences and solve problems together. Programming is a valuable skill for the future, and the course will help you develop your programming skills and knowledge. Don’t let doubt stop you—apply and enjoy an unforgettable learning experience!”

Datorium and Riga City Council congratulate all the participants and emphasise the importance of initiatives like this in developing girls’ interest and skills in IT and programming, thereby nurturing the technology professionals of the future. Datorium is pleased to announce that this initiative will continue next year.

Latvian education technology company Datorium provides modern, technology-based education in 89 public schools, effectively teaching approximately 5000 students every week. This project is unique in Europe and successfully addresses the shortage of qualified digital skills, programming and STEM teachers by applying its own education technologies and a unique teaching methodology within national education standards.