YNAP & Imperial College London promote digital skills with CodeLab

Imperial College London is continuing to shape the future by partnering with the world's leading online luxury fashion group Yoox Net-a-Porter. Together the two have launched 18 month initiative ‘Imperial CodeLab powered by YOOX Net-a-Porter’ which aims to strengthen digital skills in West London.

The announcement follows on from the opening of YNAP’s new state of the art Tech Hub in White City, where free weekly CodeLab classes for underprivileged children, particularly girls aged between 8 and 14 will take place. The children will have the chance to learn basic coding and be introduced to computer science at the lessons, which will also take place at the Imperial College London.

Approximately 250 children will have the chance to attend lessons every quarter and will be taught by students from Imperial’s Department of Computing, who will be paid for their teaching time. Children will learn JavaScript enabling them to build their own games and apps, thereby developing essential problem solving skills in a creative environment.

Susan Eisenbach, Professor of Computing at Imperial College London explains the college’s involvement with the project: “We live in the digital age, where technology is crucial to our day-to-day lives. If we are to make sure that technology works for everyone, we need a diverse talent pool of coders and computer scientists.”

The curriculum has been devised by both Imperial and YNAP developers, and as Alex Alexander, Chief Information Officer at YNAP notes: “We want to inspire young children, and especially girls, to develop their digital skills, helping to create the next generation of innovators.”

Not only does CodeLab aim to support the next generation of innovators but also hopes to tackle the lack of diversity and gender equality within the technology industry whilst supporting the local West London community.

YNAP will play a key part in the White City regeneration project, which includes the construction of Imperial College’s White City campus.

Photo: Courtesy of YNAP