Australian IT superstar comes out on top in inaugural WorldSkills Digital Challenge

The 43^rd WorldSkills Competition proved to be a successful event for more than just the 2015 Skillaroos.

2011 Skillaroo Andrew Seeley – who won a Medallion of Excellence in IT Software Solutions for Business at the 41^st WorldSkills Competition in London, UK – had the honour of being selected to compete as a WorldSkills Champion in the inaugural WorldSkills Digital Challenge (WSDC).

Held in conjunction with the 43^rd WorldSkills Competition, the WSDC was a ground-breaking event that demonstrated how information technology-related competitions can be fun and engaging. The WSDC brought together a selection of talented problem-solvers from all corners of the globe, where the competitors were tasked with the challenge of assisting Brazilian NGOs with social projects.

Twenty participants hailing from Australia, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, Canada and Brazil formed five teams, and each team was provided with one of five challenges to undertake during four days of competition. Andrew and his teammates were assigned the Blood Donation Awareness challenge, tasked with advising NGO Sobre Vivência how to encourage teenagers to make their first blood donation and develop intrinsic motivation to continue donating throughout the course of their lives.

“We had to find a way to convince the youth of Brazil to donate blood, as this is a huge problem in Brazil,” says Andrew. “Compared to the rest of the world, a very low percentage of people donate blood.

The team investigated the reasons why blood donation is low, which Andrew stated is due to a fear of donating alone. “We created an app that once a donation appointment is logged, the app sends an invitation to a friend challenging them to donate blood together.”

The team made a mammoth effort and it paid off as Andrew and his teammates were named the winners of the 2015 WorldSkills Digital Challenge.

“I was quite surprised when we won because I thought the other teams had really great ideas,” said Andrew. “It was a really great feeling, and Sobre Vivência got a prize to continue developing the app. Hopefully it will help convince more people to donate blood in the future.”

For more information on the WorldSkills Digital Challenge, visit: http://wsdc2015.worldskills.org/en