The U.S. Department of State hosted the first Youth TechCamp in Washington, D.C. for 21 Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program alumni representing 11 countries including:  Egypt, Indonesia, India, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Philippines, Thailand, and Turkey.

Youth TechCamp builds on the series of TechCamps hosted by the State Department around the world over the last two years to increase the digital literacy of civil society groups. ECA’s Youth TechCamp supports Secretary Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft policy by encouraging young people to engage and contribute to the digital networks and technologies of today’s interconnected world.

YES alumni engaged in a full day of training where they interacted with top technology experts from Mozilla, a non-profit organization. Mozilla’s Hackasaurus team provided hands-on training in open source Internet design and development. Youth TechCamp enabled these future leaders to learn how to use connection technologies to make a positive impact in their communities around the world.

The event took place at the offices of InterMedia, a global research and evaluation consulting group, in Washington, D.C. Please see below for a short video with highlights from the event.