The youth of Korça are becoming the change they want to see in the community in the 15th edition of Upshift. For the third time in the city of Korçë, Upshift marked its 15th edition on a national scale, with about 70 young people from the entire region divided into 11 groups participating. The 3-day Upshift program in the city of Korçë was organized at the Korca Innovation Hub as part of the “Qëndro” project funded by the Italian Government, Embassy of Italy in Tirana, and implemented in Albania by UNICEF Albania and ICTSlab with the support of the Ministry of Education and Sports Ogerta Manastirliu, the Ministry of State for Youth and Children Bora Muzhaqi, the National Employment and Skills Agency, and the Municipality of Korça.

For the second consecutive year, the Municipality of Korça, in collaboration with the Albanian Diaspora Network in Silicon Valley, brings the largest innovation academy to Korça, gathering 150 students from Albania and the region, along with 12 American instructors from Stanford University. This is a 3-year program consisting of 3 distinct levels of interaction between instructors and participating students:

I. Two-week Camp: Participating students will learn how to program in Python and Android, as well as efficiently apply critical thinking skills. Led by Stanford University students, this program focuses on students from grades 9, 10, and 11 of high school, every summer after the academic year.

II. One-year Guidance: Biweekly instructional sessions allow students to further develop their programming and design thinking skills gained during the previous summer. This part of the program, mentored by Code.X, will be led in the field by local Albanian instructors, with online sessions.

III. Capstone Project: A group project where students will apply guided principles of critical thinking to identify a real community need and address it through their acquired programming skills.

CAREER TECH Job Fair in the field of Technology and Innovation, with the participation of over 20 technology companies. The “Career Tech” job fair is part of the larger program of the Municipality of Korça aimed at transforming the city into the largest technological center in the region, offering employment opportunities for the youth of Korça. Korca Innovation Hub serves as a significant technological gateway for the youth of Korça, providing opportunities in technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship.