SANTIAGO, Oct. 4
(Xinhua) -- Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Thursday urged the teaching of
computing and digital skills to Chile's students so the country can be a future
digital leader.
"In the knowledge and
information society, Chile must take a leading role," said Pinera at an event
for the international initiative, Hour of Code, which seeks to broaden
participation in computer science.
"We cannot allow this
to pass us by as we have many times in the past," he added.
The president
stressed that programming helps to open society's doors to knowledge and
information, and that he hoped every child in the country could take
part.
The leader said Chile
should make use of the "revolutionary technology knocking at our doors" to
create a better society.
He also reminded
event participants that in July the Ministry of Education had launched the
National Digital Language Plan.
Pinera is pushing the
digital transformation of the country and recently celebrated the investment of
140 million U.S. dollars to expand Google's Chilean data center, the only one of
its kind in Latin America.
The Hour of Code was
launched in 2013 by the U.S. foundation, Code.org.
Some 2,000 Chilean
schools are linked to the initiative, with half a million students taking part.