Coding talents from Lower Austria honoured - award ceremony at the House of Digitalisation

Tulln, 18 June 2025 - Lower Austria's young digital talents were honoured at a ceremony in the House of Digitalisation in Tulln: As part of the digital initiative ‘Make tomorrow possible today’, Microsoft Austria, fit4internet and DaVinciLab worked together to honour secondary school pupils for their outstanding achievements in the Niederösterreich TalentsLounge Challenge.

Up to 20 lessons can be integrated into classroom teaching via the learning platform
TalentsLounge and practical skills can be acquired in the process. Over 3,000 coding lessons, 780 pupils and 40 school classes from all over Lower Austria show that Digital basic education is alive and well - and with a wide range of partner organisations and programmes.

Particularly active schools, classes and teachers as well as top projects by pupils were honoured. Anna Gawin, founder of DaVinciLab, explains:
"Gamification in the learning process through TalentCoins, which are collected for each activity, combined with individualised learning and the excellent pedagogy of the teachers, sustainably increases student motivation. The team challenge is about collecting the most T!Coins as a class community for each learning activity and coding project - making learning really fun!"

Award winners in four categories
The digital talents and stars proved themselves in several categories:

• Top School (T!Score): 1st place: MS Ternitz, 2nd place: IMS Hinterbrühl, 3rd place: BG Bachgasse. The T!Score is calculated by dividing the T!Coins achieved by the number of pupils in the class in order to equalise different class and school sizes.
• Top class (T!Score): 3B of MS Ternitz 
• Top pedagogue (max. number of class projects)): Martin Schneider from PMS Mary Ward Krems
• Top project:
  - 1st place: ‘Time travel!’ by Emma Sonnleitner (4C, PMS Mary Ward Krems) 
  - 2nd place: ‘Slime Team’ by Dominik Kühmayer (3A, IMS Hinterbrühl)     
  - 3rd place: ‘Car Racing Simulator 2025’ by Maxim Sazanov & Leon Lessiak (3C, BG/BRG Klosterneuburg)

The Lower Austria Challenge organised by the TalentsLounge and the ‘Make tomorrow possible today’ initiative
impressively demonstrates how creativity, digital skills and teamwork can be combined at a young age and in a committed school system.

Basic digital education: More than a school subject - a question for the future
The project emphasises the relevance of the subject of basic digital education, which has had a firm place in the Austrian school system since its introduction and is becoming even more important in times of AI and new technologies. School Quality Manager Gunnar Hamann, who was present on behalf of Director of Education Karl Fritthum, said: "Basic digital education enables children and young people to move actively and reflectively in an increasingly digitalised world. Committed educators who shape this change with heart and innovation are central to this. In Lower Austria, we attach particular importance to providing our pupils with the most practical and hands-on training possible, which is why projects where coding skills can be actively implemented are a wonderful addition to our everyday school life."

The University College of Teacher Education (KPH) Vienna/Lower Austria, Austria's largest private university college of teacher education with eight locations in Vienna and Lower Austria, has made it possible for the training course "Let`s code! Using computer science education in a practical way in the classroom" in the field of basic digital education for teachers with up to 15 teaching units. "In a society characterised by rapid technological developments and digitalisation in a culture of digitality, the focus is on educational skills such as computer literacy, media literacy and AI literacy. In addition to basic skills, they form the basis for participating in and shaping one's own future living and working environment and society in a critical and constructive manner. In the area of basic digital education, it is important to us to support the development of these future skills through innovative formats in the area of further and continuing education. Educators play a key role here as facilitators of these skills and open up spaces of experience for their students. As a university college of teacher education, we contribute to promoting educational equality and democratic participation through projects such as ‘Let's code’ in cooperation with the TalentsLounge in the educational context," says Michaela Liebhart-Gundacker from the Centre for Digitalisation at the Institute for Continuing Education at KPH Vienna-NÖ.

Daniela Haberler, head of the 3B class at MS Ternitz, is also delighted: "Winning the Lower Austrian TalentsLounge Challenge is a great success for our class and a fine demonstration of what can be achieved through collaboration and commitment. As head of the class, I am very proud of the pupils, who worked on this project with great commitment. I am particularly pleased that their achievement has been recognised at national level and I am already looking forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future with their newly acquired knowledge."

Together for digital future skills.

With the TalentsLounge, DaVinciLab provides an innovative, interactive learning platform that enables teachers to organise practice-oriented coding lessons without any programming knowledge. Microsoft Austria's ‘Make tomorrow possible today’ initiative brings future professions within reach, promotes self-efficacy among young people and actively supports innovative learning methods such as those of the TalentsLounge. In order to make the digital transformation in education, society and the economy possible, the necessary infrastructure is also required, as Country Manager of Microsoft Austria Hermann Erlach explains: "By opening the Microsoft Cloud Region in Austria, we are not only investing in digital infrastructure, but also in the people who shape it. Innovation is created where technology meets education - and where talent is nurtured at an early stage. This is exactly where TalentsLounge comes in: Young people discover the world of technology in a playful way, developing digital skills and laying the foundations for the innovative power of tomorrow."

In addition to the digital infrastructure, physical spaces for meeting and engaging with digitality are also essential. One example of such a meeting space is the House of Digitalisation. "Making young people fit for the digital future is not a nice-to-have, but a key investment in the future of Lower Austria. The TalentsLounge impressively demonstrates how programming skills and digital education can be promoted from an early age. The low-threshold access and the commitment of strong partners in particular lay the foundation for an equal-opportunity digital society. For us as the House of Digitalisation, this is an important building block on the way to a future-proof Lower Austria," says Lukas Reutterer, Managing Director of the House of Digitalisation, ecoplus GmbH.

This idea is also emphasised by the statement of the best student (T!Coins Champion) from Lower Austria, Marvin Schneider from 3B at MS Ternitz: "I really enjoyed working on programming together with my classmates. By taking part in the TalentsLounge and the courses on offer, I was able to significantly expand my knowledge of Scratch. I am particularly grateful to our class teacher, who made it possible for me to take part in this project and supported us in the process. This experience was not only instructive, but also motivating for my further involvement with programming."

A strong alliance for digital education
"This initiative is a beacon example of successful cooperation between education, business and technology. The projects submitted show that we have come closer to our goal of inspiring children and young people in Lower Austria not just to consume future technologies, but to actively help shape them. The Lower Austria Challenge 2025 is encouraging - and shows how young people can shape the world of tomorrow with digital skills," emphasises Markus Schaffhauser, President offit4internet.

About the partners:

• DaVinciLab is an Austrian educational institution that offers the TalentsLounge, a multi-award-winning platform for basic digital education.
• Microsoft Austria also promotes equal digital opportunities in schools and selected, scalable projects with Mach heute Morgen möglich.
• fit4internet is a non-profit association that supports the development of digital skills along the lines of the European DigComp reference framework - for all generations with a focus on young people and people in the labour market and business.
• The House of Digitalisation in Tulln is the host of the award ceremony and the centre for digital innovation in Lower Austria.
• Organisations in the state of Lower Austria as project partners: Lower Austria Education Directorate, University College of Teacher Education (KPH) Vienna/Lower Austria and House of Digitalisation