Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A leading Welsh computer scientist is calling for the Welsh Government to leap ahead of the rest of the UK and identify computing as a core component of the National Curriculum. Dr Tom Crick, a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), is bringing together key stakeholders to discuss a strategy for computing education in Wales at a conference at Swansea University this Friday. The aim of this one-day conference, entitled Computing at School: Enhancing the STEM Curriculum for a Digital Wales, is to provide teachers, examination boards, higher education academics, education policymakers and industry with a forum to highlight and discuss the important issues surrounding computing education policy within Wales. Dr Crick said: “The strategic importance of the provision of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, as well as their contribution to the Welsh and wider UK economy has been frequently discussed, but there appears to...

A leading Welsh computer scientist will be in the limelight next week, helping to brief Welsh Government members, advisers and policymakers. Dr Tom Crick, a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), has been invited to speak at Science and the Assembly 2011 on Tuesday 24th May at the Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay. The timing of the event could not be better for computer science in Wales, as work gets underway on the HPC Wales high performance computing project. The £40 million project -- which will provide a world-class super-computing network, a research and innovation institute and a skills academy -- has been in the news lately for its new links with Fujitsu, Microsoft and Intel. Science and the Assembly is an annual event organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, designed to develop closer links between the scientific community in Wales and the Welsh Government. Dr Crick said: “I will be discussing the importance of Computing in Wales, h...