Much of the work shaping Australia’s future tech workforce takes place in schools, where partnerships with industry and the broader Australian Computer Society community are exposing students to real-world technology careers and helping teachers keep pace with rapid change.
For ACS, this engagement forms an important pillar of activity alongside its work across professionalisation, upskilling and micro-credentials.
Through events, classroom collaboration and volunteer programs, ACS is connecting students, educators, and practitioners to bring technology careers to life.
Gateway to Industry Schools Program
Delivered by ACS with the Queensland government support, the ICT Gateway to Industry Schools Program (ICT GISP) helps secondary students explore ICT pathways through subject guidance, training opportunities, and industry connections.
The program has reached more than 100 Queensland schools and upwards of 60,000 students. ICT GISP also supports educators through professional development, industry engagement, and shared teaching resources to strengthen classroom delivery.
After expanding participation options in late 2025, the program welcomed 25 new schools and campuses to the community for 2026.
From Cairns and Townsville, to Nambour, Ipswich, Yatala and Brisbane, these new members represent schools of all backgrounds and sectors. These include State High Schools and Secondary Colleges, Independent and private schools, as well as alternative education programs.
Why are these schools choosing to join? Lachlan Stewart, curriculum coordinator, Mansfield State High School shares that “For the Mansfield SHS Digital Solutions Faculty, joining the ICT Gateway to Industry Schools Program will help us position our students for success in the future by strengthening career pathways, keeping up to date with emerging technologies, and building strong relationships with industry partners.”
Young Tech Ambassadors: industry voices shaping student perceptions
Beyond industry immersion for teachers, collaboration with ACS members who volunteer their time and expertise has become a key part of school engagement.
The Young Tech Ambassadors (YTA) program, funded by the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, connects students with emerging professionals who work in tech teams, specialising in software development, cyber security, animation, games development and other digital roles. Through classroom visits, mentoring and digital resources, ambassadors share real projects and personal journeys that help students understand the breadth of technology careers. This includes initiatives such as the Hack Your Future video series, where ambassadors and ACS members give students a behind-the-scenes look at a typical day working in technology roles.
Young Tech Ambassador Ben Gittins, who is a product security lead at Zepto, mentors young people and highlights the diversity of tech roles.
“Tech careers don’t follow a single pathway,” Mr Gittins said. “As a Young Tech Ambassador, I want students to see that technology offers opportunities for all kinds of strengths — not every role is deeply technical, but every industry needs tech talent.”
This engagement is reinforced through industry collaborations, which provide students with practical insights and career context. Gameloft Brisbane, home to more than 100 developers behind titles including The Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego, regularly supports YTA engagements.
Associate lead cinematic and lighting artist Tyson Butler-Boschma recently worked with home-schooled young people, emphasising that multiple pathways can lead to tech careers. Mr Butler-Boschma said, “Don’t be so paralysed by, ‘I need to get a really high ATAR score to do what I want to do.’ There are many, many solutions to many, many different roles.”
Big Day In: translating classroom learning into career insight
Complementing in-school ambassador engagement, large-scale student events offer broader exposure to technology careers. The ACS Foundation’s Big Day In (BDI), delivered in partnership with universities and industry, brings secondary students onto campuses to hear directly from practitioners across the tech sector, representing all types of roles like cyber specialists, startup founders, games developers and just about everything in between.
The BDI aims to highlight technology roles beyond abstract classroom concepts by showcasing real career journeys, emerging technologies, and the variety of roles available across the digital economy. For many students, particularly those without existing industry exposure, the experience provides their first tangible understanding of what working in technology can look like.
“These encounters can be pivotal in shaping students’ subject choices and post-school aspirations,” says Young Tech Ambassador Joshua Ho, founder of Acenci and school house system platform PointDash. “Presenting at Big Day In gives me the chance to offer that early exposure to industry and real-world career pathways, helping students see how their interests today can translate into future tech careers.”
School engagement: supporting teachers on the frontline
Recognising the critical role teachers play in shaping Australia’s future digital workforce, ACS’s Schools initiative places a strong focus on supporting educators. The ACS Schools lead has provided guidance for over 3,000 primary and secondary school teachers across Australia as part of their professional development.
These mentorship-style engagements often address practical challenges faced by teachers, such as planning lessons that inspire the next generation to engage with digital technologies while reflecting current pedagogical practice.
By equipping teachers with practical resources and guidance, the program helps educators bring meaningful digital technologies learning into their classrooms.
The initiative also supports broader advocacy efforts, using education reports to highlight the importance of digital technologies education to departments and policy makers. This approach reinforces the role of teachers as critical partners in developing Australia’s future digital workforce.
IT and Mathematics teacher at Fintona Girls’ School Caterina Garwoli said, “Working with ACS Schools has been incredibly valuable for us as educators. The guidance and curriculum support helped us connect core coding concepts to meaningful, real-world algorithm applications, which made the lessons far more engaging for students encountering programming for the first time. It’s given our teachers greater confidence in bringing practical technology learning into the classroom.”
Supanova: meeting students where curiosity begins
Engagement is also extending beyond traditional education settings. For the second consecutive year, ACS has partnered with pop-culture convention Supanova to attract students to technology careers by tapping into their interests in gaming, animation and digital storytelling.
Through the partnership, thousands of school students are invited to attend and explore the technology behind the creative worlds they already enjoy, from game development and visual effects to animation and digital media production.
The approach recognises that for many young people, curiosity about technology begins through entertainment and creativity rather than formal classroom pathways. By showcasing the technical skills behind popular culture, the ACS–Supanova collaboration is creating alternative entry points into technology education and careers.
Multi-pronged approach for Australia’s digital future
Together, these initiatives show a broad and genuine approach to workforce development, with ACS engaging students, teachers, industry, and government at multiple touchpoints.
Positioned at the intersection of government, schools, industry, and its national member community, ACS is uniquely placed and emphatically committed to convening these stakeholders and translating collaboration into practical programs.
The organisation’s large and diverse membership, spanning practitioners, educators, volunteers, and employers, provides a powerful network that can be mobilised to inspire students and support teachers.
The ACS wishes to acknowledge the important role of grant funding from the Queensland Government that has enabled delivery of the ICT Gateway to Industry Schools project, Young Tech Ambassadors program and Hack Your Future video series.
This article was produced by InnovationAus.com in partnership with the Australian Computer Society (ACS), as part of its sponsorship of the InnovationAus Awards for Excellence 2025.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.