Sparking interest in technology among children in North Holland

Technology is the throughline in our daily lives, powering much of what we do at home, at school, on the job, and in the public marketplace. To help young people appreciate the importance of technology in their daily lives, Microsoft has collaborated with the Techno Challenge Foundation to bring a series of fun, educational events to children aged 6 to 16. The Promotional Events Technology (PET) program engages children with science and technology activities grounded in different aspects of daily life. The goal is to inspire the next generation to explore their technical talents and envision how they could use science and technology to create a more sustainable future.

Inspiring young people with hands-on technical workshops

Microsoft and the Techno Challenge Foundation are connecting the dots between education and technology with a series of events and activities throughout North Holland. The PET events team has brought 12 promotional technology events and two career days for secondary students to the region. With the financial support of the Microsoft Datacenter Fund, the team was able to bring four PET learning events and a career event to the region in North Holland where Microsoft has a datacenter. To integrate these events with the class curriculum, Microsoft offered lesson plans and teacher training, as well as a series of guest lectures by Microsoft employees delivered via the CloudCraft by Minecraft Education program. Finally, some students and teachers were invited to visit Microsoft Dream Space Amsterdam for additional workshops and activities.

The PET curriculum invites students to explore science and technology in action. Hands-on workshops let participants experience a technology or technique used in fields like healthcare, agriculture, media, construction, utilities, and more.

The event invites children to choose their own technology adventure. “With a wide variety of activities, there is something for every child to discover and do,” explains the PET event team. At recent PET event in Hoorn and in Alkmaar, for example, children could choose to make a song using AI, program and play with a robot dog, build bridges or a 3D racing car, purify water, solder light machines, install power rings, and more. Children can step into the shoes of a drone pilot, an AI specialist, a green technologist—to name just a few of the career paths represented. In offering a broad array of experiences, the PET event team explains, “We want to show how broadly technology is embedded in our society.”

Opening doors to a world of technical innovation

The program is designed to introduce students to a world of opportunities in technology. PET organizers explain, “The students actively discover where their interests and talents lie. And who knows, this might be a stepping stone for them to vocational training and a future in technology!”

The PET program awakens curiosity and wonder in the next generation, letting students explore what technology can do today and imagine how they might use these tools in the future.