TIGA, the trade associationrepresenting the UK games industry, is delighted to announce that the
Raspberry Pi Foundation has become a member of TIGA.
The Raspberry
Pi Foundation is doing brilliant work in creating an inexpensive machine aimed
at encouraging children to learn more about the inner workings of a computer.
The Raspberry
Pi has been a long-running project which has involved one of gaming’s most
prominent programmers, David Braben, who produced Elite. The idea originated in
2006 when Eben Upton and his colleagues at the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory, including Rob Mullins, Jack Lang and Alan
Mycroft, became concerned about the year-on-year decline in the numbers and
skills levels of the A Level students applying to read Computer Science in each
academic year.
From a
situation in the 1990s where most of the people applying were coming to
interview as experienced hobbyist programmers, the landscape in the 2000s was
very different; some applicants might only have done a little web design.
The Raspberry Pi was launched earlier this year. It is a tiny, case-less
device which runs Linux. Selling for around £25, children and enthusiasts can
experiment with the computer and program it, evoking the ethos of the 1980s
when youngsters would program BBC Micros at school. Many developers have difficulty recruiting highly skilled programmers.
Games
developers have told TIGA that they want to see
greater numbers of highly skilled mathematics and computer science students and the Raspberry Pi can help to foster an early understanding and
interest of computing.
Eben Upton, a founder and trustee
of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, said:
“Over
the last few years, the UK games industry has led the way in highlighting the
skills challenges facing the UK technology sector. By joining TIGA, we hope to
be able to work with other members to further advance the importance of
computer programming.”
Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said:
“The work being carried out by the
Raspberry Pi Foundation should inspire young people to experiment with
computing and help them not only understand the workings of applications but
delve beneath the hood to produce their own programs.
“TIGA hopes that schools will take
up the Raspberry Pi in the same numbers as they did with the BBC Micro.
Fostering a generation that enthusiastically embraces computing in its rawest
of forms is something TIGA fully supports.”
Notes
to editors:
About
TIGA:
TIGA
is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The
majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house
publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing
companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. TIGA
was awarded ‘Trade Association of the Year’ and the ‘Member Recruitment Award’
at the Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards 2010. TIGA has also been
named as a finalist in the 2010 Chartered Management Institute (CMI) National
Management and Leadership Awards in the category of ‘The Outstanding
Organisation of the Year Award (SME)’.
TIGA is an ‘Investors in People’
accredited organisation. TIGA's
vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games
business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation,
generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the
competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are
effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the
media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their
businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial
opportunities.
For further
information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or
email richard.wilson@tiga.org.