E-Business
Accenture Teams with Code.org to Advance Coding Literacy Via ‘Hour of Code’
Accenture is teaming with Code.org to support global participation in Hour of Code, one of the world’s largest educational events, designed to prove anyone can learn the basics of coding, have fun doing it, then continue learning beyond one hour.
Thousands of Accenture employees around the world completed nearly 8,000 Hours of Code during Computer Science Education Week (December 7-13).
This number is expected to grow as Accenture employees commit to an Hour of Code and volunteer to work with teachers and Code.org to help students learn the basics of computer science at local schools and events through fun, game-like online lessons.
Organized by Code.org, the Hour of Code brings together more than 350 partner organizations and tens of millions of students in every country around the world.
The goal of the grassroots movement was to empower every student in every school with the opportunity to learn computer science. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.
”We are aligned with Code.org’s mission and vision that exposure to coding is important to the success of every student, regardless of what field they choose to pursue,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology officer. “We must all do more to encourage greater interest in computer science in schools, especially for girls and underrepresented students of color. Armed with coding skills they develop throughout their academic careers, students will be much better prepared to fill key roles in the digital businesses of the future. I am impressed with the passion and energy that our Accenture people are showing in their commitment to this important cause.”
“The need for people with STEM skills has never been greater,” said Roxanne Taylor, Accenture’s chief marketing and communications officer. “By 2020, there will be 1.2 million jobs requiring computer-related skills in the U.S. alone. Yet the pipeline of graduates with technology skills is lacking, especially among women. Code.org is helping to reverse this trend by addressing the issue early in the education cycle. We need to get young people excited about computer science long before they enter college. Hour of Code is an amazing campaign that does just that.”
As part of its collaboration with Code.org, senior Accenture leaders will join with employees in 186 cities across 56 countries to participate in Hour of Code activities including: Paul Daugherty, Accenture Chief Technology Officer, will join Code.org Co-founder and CEO HadiPartovi at Fort Greene Preparatory Academy, Brooklyn, NY, US; Ellyn Shook, Accenture Chief Human Resources Officer, at Oakridge International School, Bangalore, India; Julie Sweet, Accenture Group Chief Executive – North America, at The National Center for Children and Families, Washington, D.C., US and Emma McGuigan, Senior Managing Director, Accenture’s UK and Ireland Technology Group, at STEM organization, London, UK.
Others are Jane Livesey, Managing Director, Accenture’s Australia and New Zealand Technology Lead , at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour School in Sydney, Australia; Marc Carrel-Billiard, Managing Director, Accenture Technology, Global Technology R&D, at Fremont High School in Oakland, California, US.
“Accenture is leading by example in their efforts to support computer science education with a company-wide commitment to help students start learning skills that will prepare them for the best opportunities in any future career path,” said Code.org CEO and Co-founder HadiPartovi. “By not only looking inward into their own organization, Accenture’s support in classrooms and Code.org events around the world will address some of the biggest issues faced by the technology industry, helping make it more diverse, inclusive and available to all people.”
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations.
Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders.
Code.org, on the other hand, is a 501c3 public non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Its vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.
After launching in 2013, Code.org organized the Hour of Code campaign – which has introduced over 100 million students to computer science to date – and partnered with 90 public school districts nationwide to expand computer science programs. Code.org is supported by philanthropic donations from corporations, foundations and generous individuals, including Ballmer Family Giving, Google, Infosys Foundation USA, Microsoft, Omidyar Network and others.
In a sobering revelation of the evolving threat landscape facing the digital asset ecosystem, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs has disclosed that over $2.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen in the first half of 2025 alone, spanning at least 75 high-profile hacks and exploits.
This staggering figure marks a 10 per cent surge over the previous first-half record set in 2022 and nearly eclipses the total stolen in all of 2024.
But beyond the monetary scale, the report reveals a deeper concern: a growing trend of state-sponsored cyber aggression weaponising crypto assets for strategic and geopolitical purposes.
The most devastating breach to date occurred in February when Dubai-based exchange Bybit lost $1.5 billion—the largest crypto heist in history.
TRM Labs attributes the attack to North Korean state actors, noting that the incident alone accounted for nearly 70 percent of total losses during the period and doubled the average hack size to $30 million.
“The Bybit hack redefined the threat landscape,” the report stated.
“It exemplifies how digital asset theft has transcended criminal opportunism and morphed into a tool of statecraft.”
Indeed, North Korea-linked entities were responsible for an estimated $1.6 billion of the total stolen, further entrenching Pyongyang’s status as the most prolific nation-state threat actor in the crypto sphere.
Yet the menace is diversifying. On June 18, Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex was breached for over $90 million by a group reportedly linked to Israel, Gonjeshke Darande (Predatory Sparrow).
Unusually, the stolen funds were routed to unusable vanity addresses, underscoring symbolic and political motives rather than financial gain.
TRM Labs flagged this as a “disturbing shift,” with digital asset theft increasingly deployed as a weapon in asymmetric geopolitical conflict.
The report also found that more than 80 percent of losses stemmed from infrastructure breaches, including private key theft, seed phrase leaks, and front-end compromises— attacks typically ten times costlier than other vectors.
Meanwhile, DeFi exploits such as flash loan manipulations accounted for 12 percent of losses, reflecting persistent smart contract vulnerabilities despite years of scrutiny.
As digital currencies become enmeshed in global rivalries, TRM Labs warns that conventional cybersecurity approaches are now inadequate.
“Massive breaches, often tied to nation-state operations, require a new defence paradigm,” the firm asserted, urging industrywide adoption of advanced safeguards and cross-border collaboration among regulators and law enforcement.
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has inaugurated the pilot take-off of its new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered registration portal.
A statement issued by the commission explained that Malam Hussaini Magaji, registrar-general of the CAC, made the announcement during the 2025 Stakeholders Forum in Port Harcourt.
According to him, “the initiative is a major milestone in Nigeria’s business facilitation drive.”
The Registrar further explained that the upgraded portal marks a complete overhaul of the Company Registration Portal (CRP), saying that it comes with advanced features designed to simplify and speed up business registration.
The new system, according to him, allows for instant name reservation approvals, likening the ease to creating an email account, and stressing that the AI-powered platform could suggest available alternatives to business names and approve them immediately.
Another innovation, he stated, is the ability to register a business using only the National Identification Number (NIN) of a director or proprietor, pointing out that there is an ambitious target of completing business registration and certificate generation within 30 minutes, subject to real-time NIN validation.
Bitget has launched its institutional services in Nigeria, offering fintech companies a robust platform to build innovative solutions on top of Bitget’s suite of institutional-grade offerings.
Gracy Chen, CEO, Bitget, in a statement said, “Our goal is to empower Nigerian businesses to innovate and leverage blockchain for wealth creation opportunities, hence, the institutional services empower fintech leaders with tailored solutions, as the offerings designed to cater for the unique operational needs of institutional clients, enabling businesses to embed trading functionalities like spot and futures markets, wallet management, and more, directly into their platforms.
“The Key services include White-label Broker Services which enabled Fintech companies to deploy customized crypto exchanges using Bitget’s infrastructure while managing branding and users independently. There is also API Solutions that can make the Developers to integrate trading functionality via APIs for spot, margin, and derivatives markets, ensuring fast execution and seamless experiences for end users.”
Chen added, “The ND Broker Model provides clients with complete autonomy over user-facing platforms, offering exclusive front-end flexibility while relying on Bitget for back-end market liquidity. Clients are able to employ Protection Fund and Proof of Reserves of over $600million secured in the Bitget Protection Fund and real-time Proof of Reserves, which gives clients assurance of maximum transparency and security.”
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