Introduction
Young Rewired State is a UK organization which runs events for technically-gifted young people aged 18 and under. It brings together young developers and designers to build phone and web applications that attempt to solve real world problems. They have experienced a very fast growth trajectory over the past three years, which has revealed limitations in their model, and raised some fundamental strategic questions:
1. How to better identify young coders with significant potential?
2. How best to nurture this group?
3. How to develop appropriate connections with corporates, governments, and academics?
4. How to handle increased staffing and funding requirements. Oliver Wyman provided support to develop their expansion strategy, with a focus on a new “elite” program?
Our support for Young Rewired State involved asking some fundamental questions about how to identify and to nurture computer coding talent in young people. It is a very exciting and not very well understood area. Our work is helping to redefine the way in which schools and nonprofit organizations think about building the next generation of computer programmersMark James
Scope
During a six week engagement, we reviewed the current state of coding education providers to understand market dynamics. Interviews were conducted to understand global best practice approaches for the delivery of elite programs in other sectors. Through a series of stakeholder interviews, the team was able to identify elite program options that worked best for the client. Oliver Wyman delivered a target operating model detailing both the activities and the changes to the organization required, alongside a step by step implementation plan to build the program.
Impact
Young Rewired State was able to clearly structure their understanding of the market and its dynamics. The elite program design and structure was agreed and potential partners were identified to collaborate with. The client was given a clear Target Operating Model and implementation plan to help to create their elite program. The client was able to begin socializing the elite program plan with board members, potential partners, and potential sponsors to gauge interest and obtain feedback.
