Hour of code: when SNCF Connect & Tech passes on a passion for digital technology

In France, the illiteracy rate (inability to use the Internet or master basic digital skills) remains relatively low: according to INSEE, in 2021, only 2.4% of 15-24 year-olds were affected. And yet, depending on the region and school context, access to practical code practice remains uneven.

In an environment where digital uses shape everyday life, acquiring the basics of digital culture is a major challenge. Understanding the logic behind code, and how the apps and games students use every day work, enables them to move on from being mere users to becoming more enlightened players in technology.

In this context, educational initiatives such as Hour of Code play a key role in providing a simple, fun and accessible first experience of programming. With this in mind, SNCF Connect & Tech is once again working alongside schools to pass on the basics of digital technology and inspire new vocations.

Introducing girls to digital technology from an early age

By organizing these code workshops, SNCF Connect & Tech wanted to give everyone the chance to discover computer logic from elementary school onwards. The aim is to provide an initial gateway to the digital business lines, which are still often little-known and marked by strong inequalities in representation.

Today, barely a quarter of digital jobs in France are held by women, and less than 15% are in strictly technical business lines. These inequalities emerge at a very early age, often as early as secondary school, at the very moment when representations of science and technology are being formed.

Based on a simple principle: one hour to learn about digital technology, Hour of Code introduces students to programming through mini-games, visual challenges and interactive exercises. By manipulating blocks of code, they experimented, tested hypotheses and learned by doing, without fear of making mistakes.

Hour of Code offers a simple approach: one hour is all it takes to become familiar with programming, through mini-games, visual challenges and interactive exercises.

A grassroots player in touch with the people

Around the Saint-Denis, Nantes and Lille sites, SNCF Connect & Tech employees were heavily involved in bringing the Hour of Code workshops to life. To facilitate their involvement and multiply the opportunities for intervention, they were offered three ways to participate.

Employees could take part in one of the partner schools close to their workplace, organize a workshop at a school of their choice, or run a session at home, with children from their entourage (their children, nephews, nieces or relatives).

This flexible organization made it possible to broaden the scope of the initiative and reach a wider audience, while adapting to the personal and professional constraints of employees, whether they were based at one of the company's sites or involved locally.

Participation was entirely voluntary and open to all profiles, whether from technical or non-technical business lines. This diversity enriched exchanges with the students and made the workshops more concrete, with each participant bringing his or her own vision, experience and way of making digital technology accessible.

Since the initiative was launched in 2023, Hour of Code has given rise to numerous sessions organized in some twenty schools, raising awareness of the basics of programming among over a hundred pupils. For the 2025 edition, organized as part of the Semaine du Numérique et des Sciences Informatiques, the commitment was further strengthened: more than 40 workshops were run by some thirty employees, raising awareness of code and digital culture among more than 900 pupils.