Programathon 2015 benefits more than 50,000 schoolchildren and highlights Fiserv focus on education in the community
BROOKFIELD, WI (December 21, 2015) — Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that a web-based application created during the Fiserv 2nd Annual Programathon will further the education of 50,190 schoolchildren in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Bringing together 130 professional and student programmers last month, some of them still in high school, Fiserv tested their coding skills in the grueling 32-hour, non-stop team event. The teams were challenged to develop a fully-functioning application that would grow the cognitive abilities of students in areas such as mathematics and logic. As a leading provider of innovative technology solutions, Fiserv understands that technology can help expand the power and reach of education.
Fiserv selected Fundación Quirós Tanzi and Fundación Zamora Terán, non-profits dedicated to bridging the digital divide in the region, as the beneficiaries of Programathon 2015. Based on parameters set by Fundación Quirós Tanzi, Fiservcreated a detailed requirements document for the competitors to follow. The final product will be donated to 222 public schools in the region.
“Programathon generated healthy competition between the teams as they applied their programming skills to help a very worthy cause,” said Francisco Alba, Director of Fiserv in Costa Rica. “We are proud to provide the space and resources to create an application that benefits early childhood education, while also providing a development and learning experience for future programmers.”
The final application took the form of a game in which children must perform tasks such as memorizing a number of objects, transporting animals safely across a river in the correct sequence and creating a pre-defined shape from a selection of smaller shapes. The characters and scenarios created for the application are all based around Costa Ricanculture and the country’s natural environment.
First prize of $3,000 was awarded to the team “Get Code” (Cristian Sánchez, Danny Mora, Esteban Piedra, Mike Salamanca and Pablo Esquivel), with the teams “Inorganic” (Carlos Pal, Daniel Alvarez, Sebastian Ureña and Steven McKenzie) and “Code Buster 2.0” (Carlos Girón, Jasson Moya, José Manuel Aguilar, Julián Méndez and Kevin Hernández) finishing in second and third and winning $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.
The marathon event was staffed by 60 Fiserv volunteers, who provided technical and logistical support throughout. Volunteers were on hand to ensure competitors understood the requirements of the application, while testers reviewed and evaluated deliverables. The characters used in the application were created in advance by Fiserv graphic designers in order to save the participants valuable time.
Fiserv is proud to support the communities where its associates live and work and encourages its people to volunteer in activities that align with the company’s four giving priorities: financial literacy, health and wellness, environmental stewardship and education.
In a world that is moving faster than ever before, Fiserv helps clients deliver solutions that are in step with the way people live and work today — financial services at the speed of life. Learn more at TheSpeedofLife.com.
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About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a Fortune 500 company, aspires to move money and information in a way that moves the world. As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and the Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale and business management platform. Fiserv is a member of the S&P 500® Index and has been recognized as one of Fortune® World’s Most Admired Companies™ for 9 of the last 10 years. Visit fiserv.com and follow on social media for more information and the latest company news.
