kood/FutureCoders – Best Public–Private ICT Cooperation Project

At the competition organised by the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs (JDM) and the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL), the initiative kood/FutureCoders was selected as the winner of the “Best Public–Private ICT Cooperation Project” award. The title was announced at the leadership and technology conference Telia Digital Hub.

Best cooperation project

kood/FutureCoders is an innovative education project that brings practical programming education to Estonian upper secondary schools – regardless of the school’s size, location or whether the school has a programming teacher.

Although kood/FutureCoders is not a classical public–private partnership but an initiative financed by the private sector, the jury decided to recognise it with the title of “Best Public–Private ICT Cooperation Project” as an innovative example of how cooperation can be initiated by the private sector to help solve a critical societal problem.

In the 2025–2026 school year, the programme already involves 28 schools across Estonia and nearly 800 students, about one third of whom are girls. The courses are in Estonian and based on //kood’s internationally used methodology: teacherless, project-based, collaborative and problem-solving-oriented learning that supports self-directed learning and modern digital skills.

The project addresses a very concrete problem in the Estonian education system – the shortage of programming teachers and young people’s unequal access to technology education. The web-based self-study programme enables any upper secondary school to offer high-quality, consistent-level programming education, while at the same time making the work of schools and teachers easier.

Lauri Haav, member of the management board of //kood, said after receiving the award that what may have brought victory to his team is the fact that this is a genuine PPP project. “It really is private money, public sector support and nearly 30 schools and 800 students all over Estonia,” he said.

Ats Albre, President of ITL, pointed out that kood/FutureCoders combines social responsibility, innovation and technological thinking. “kood/FutureCoders proves that developing digital skills and bringing technology into school education is vital for Estonia’s future. It is an example of successful cooperation that was born from private sector initiative but whose results benefit society as a whole,” Albre said.

Photo: Raigo Pajula

How did the upper secondary school programme start?

The key initiator of the project was the Võrumaa Development Centre Foundation (SA Võrumaa Arenduskeskus), which, in cooperation with kood/FutureCoders, created elective programming courses in schools in Võru County and laid the foundation for an educational model that enables young people to acquire practical digital skills regardless of whether their school has a programming teacher.

The programme was then joined by the Tallinn Education Department (Tallinna Haridusamet) and several schools across Estonia, bringing the solution to the capital and other regions. On the private sector side, //kood has been responsible for the development of the platform and learning content, bringing into schools the same learner-centred methodology that has already proven itself in adult education. As a long-term and substantial key partner, SEB supports the initiative and gives the project an important boost in its development.

This kind of partnership has made it possible, in a short time, to create and scale an entirely new educational format that brings together the strengths of school organisers, companies and local governments to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to benefit from practical technology education.

In the future, the goal is to expand to upper secondary schools across Estonia and to continue developing new courses in order to offer young people even more diverse and modern learning opportunities.

___________________________________

//kood was founded in Jõhvi, Estonia in 2021, with the aim of making technology education accessible to everyone. Now, students can study in Jõhvi, Võru and Paide. Its 12–15 month curriculum is based on self-directed and peer-to-peer learning, covering full-stack software development, teamwork and problem solving. Students can later specialise in fields such as cybersecurity, data analysis, mobile applications, and AI.

So far, //kood has welcomed more than 1,200 students in Estonia with over 350 graduates – nearly two-thirds of whom are now working in the technology sector. Students represent over 30 different nationalities and 21% are women. You can find the //kood peer-to-peer learning method and curriculum also in Finland, Ukraine and Kenya.

In 2025, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications recognised //kood as one of the best entrepreneurship promoters in the country.

The accessibility of IT education is supported by Skaala, Swedbank, Wise, Kaamos, LHV, SEB, Barrus, SA Võrumaa Arenduskeskus, SA Järvamaa, ESTDEV and others.