MeDirect sponsors Malta’s biggest coding competition – CodeSprintMT

MeDirect, Malta’s first digital bank, will be the title sponsor of the Open Developers Category during CodeSprintMT, Malta’s biggest coding challenge, which is taking place later this month. Launched in 2018 as a coding contest for students studying computing in secondary schools, the event has now grown into a national coding championship with additional categories for post-secondary students and an open category for undergraduate, postgraduate students and established software developers.

Chris Portelli, Chief Technology Officer at MeDirect, said “Competitions like CodeSprintMT are a great opportunity for aspiring and experienced software developers, particularly young individuals wanting to enhance skills and test their abilities against peers. In addition to being a great learning opportunity, CodeSprintMT also creates an environment where hundreds of young people can enjoy being part of a like-minded community. As a digital bank with ambitions to expand our WealthTech business further across Europe, it is exciting for us to see so many young people acquiring software development expertise and we are all very much looking forward to seeing some great projects emerge during the competition.”

The main objective in all the competition categories within CodeSprintMT, including the open category, is to test participants’ problem solving, computational and programming skills. The challenge is an open book exercise, and the participants’ work is judged against a set of assessment criteria based on functionality and effectiveness. Contestants within the open category will have to overcome an 8-hour coding marathon. The top three participants in CodeSprintMT will be rewarded with prestigious study programs and mentorship opportunities, aimed at advancing their programming skills to a world-class level. Additionally, they will receive a cash prize as part of their well-deserved recognition.

CodeSprintMT is organised by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sport, Research & Innovation together with ICE Malta. Josmar Borg, Education Officer Computing within the Ministry, and the coordinator of the competition, said “To see organisations like MeDirect appreciating the value of a national coding championship and taking the decision to invest in this event is a great validation of all our efforts to raise the game when it comes to teaching and enhancing computing and software development skills in Malta. As partners in Malta’s future economic progress, we are committed to making this year’s CodeSprintMT an even greater success.”

More information of CodeSprintMT is available at https://codesprintmalta.edu.mt/  The open category competition will take place on 15 July at the ICE Malta premises. This will be followed by a VIVA session for the top 5 on 19 July and an awards ceremony on 22 July whereby the top 3 winners across all competitions are announced.