Raspberry Pi just majorly extended its reach for young coders

Thomas McMullan Read more May 26, 2017

The Raspberry Pi Foundation’s set of miniature computers, which have become a mainstay for budding coders and indie developers alike, have found themselves everywhere from classrooms to the upper atmosphere. Now, a merger with a coding club network could see the chips land with thousands more children across the world.

Raspberry Pi just majorly extended its reach for young coders

Raspberry Pi is to merge with CoderDojo, a Dublin-based network of programming clubs. There are apparently 1,250 volunteer-led CoderDojos across 69 countries, which are thought to reach 35,000 coders between the ages of seven and 17.

This will be coupled with Raspberry Pi’s pre-existing Code Club network, with which the foundation originally merged

Joining CoderDojo and Raspberry Pi’s Code Club potentially gives the company scope to reach 185,000 young programming enthusiasts. It’s not clear whether the former will become part of the latter in the long run, but a statement from the company suggests that – at least in the short term – the CoderDojo moniker will remain:

“Raspberry Pi will work closely with CoderDojo to advance our shared goals, pooling our resources and expertise to get more adult volunteers and young people involved in the movement,” the Raspberry Pi Foundation said in a statement. “Our combined scale will allow us to invest more in the infrastructure and systems that underpin our work, and to offer a wider range of products and services to our communities.”

Regardless of what name it’s under, Raspberry Pi’s outreach network has just received a major shot in the arm. This also comes in the wake of a partnership with Google, which has seen the tech giant offering a range of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to the microcomputer company. From both a software and userbase perspective, the future’s looking bright for Raspberry Pi.