Shaping the Future of Australia's Technology Industry
With physical events coming back in 2022, the ACS Foundation returned to face-to-face Big Day In STEM careers events for senior school students' program.
During the 2021 lockdowns, the Big Day In provided virtual STEM career sessions for students across Australia. Dozens of speakers engaged with thousands of school students and teachers using Live Microsoft Teams calls. For regional and remote communities this allowed them to engage in real time with speakers from leading IT employers. The recorded sessions provided a continuity of STEM careers information embedded within school's remote learning curricula.
However, connecting students directly with employers has many intangible benefits. Studies have consistently shown the learning benefit of interactive settings particularly for teenagers. Big Day In's combination of speed presentations with longer one to one discussion at break-out sessions are critical in conveying the depth of STEM career opportunities. So, we were delighted to resume the format of intra-school Big Day In events on university campuses across Australia. So many schools continue to schedule an excursion day for the Big Day In events.
In 2022, we had over 3,000 Australian students from hundreds of high schools attend one of our 10 Big Day In events. Locations that we visited this year included Newcastle (University of Newcastle), Brisbane (University of Queensland), Sunshine Coast (Venue 114), Parramatta (WSU), Port Macquarie (CSU), Adelaide (Uni of Adelaide), Sydney (UTS), Melbourne (University of Melbourne), Perth (Curtin University). We also hosted a Big Day In Junior day for primary school students at Hilltop Road Public School in Sydney's western suburbs. Together, these initiatives continue to build the pipeline of STEM talent that are choosing to study technology. These students will shape the future of Australia's technology industry.
Each year, we continue to grow and diversify the technology leaders as part of our Big Day In speaker and exhibitor line up. This year we welcomed contributions from Defence Force Recruiting, ACS, Woolworths, Adobe, Technology One, TCS, BHP, Wisetech Global, Avanade, Westpac, nib, Mudbath, AWS, Australian Space Agency, Australian Signals Directorate, Bankwest, Swyftx, Micro Focus and Microsoft.
In 2023, we are planning to add new locations including Darwin, and also a return to BDI STEM events on the Gold Coast and Canberra. If you would like to explore more ways you can support Big Day In initiatives, please visit www.thebigdayin.com.au