HackersGen

HackersGen by Fondazione Gianfranco Marilli ETS

HackersGen is a free educational ecosystem dedicated to digital education, career guidance, and the development of ICT skills for students, teachers, and young people interested in exploring innovation, technology, and digital competences.

Founded in 2020, HackersGen combines a national digital platform with structured learning pathways, on-demand content, live sessions, challenges, project work, certifications, career guidance activities, interaction with professionals, and community-based events. Through the platform, students and teachers can access more than 500 hours of free technical training content and learning activities covering software development, cybersecurity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and foundational digital skills.

The learning pathways are designed with a practical, progressive, and project-based approach. One example is Tech Journey, a four-level programme consisting of more than 50 hours of activities that guides students from foundational concepts to the development of complete digital applications and solutions. The programme was designed starting from challenges similar to those addressed in final secondary school examinations and reworked together with ICT professionals to demonstrate how they can be approached through practical, professional, and real-world methodologies.

A key characteristic of HackersGen is the direct involvement of active ICT professionals - including software engineers, developers, cloud specialists, cybersecurity experts, DevOps engineers, and data and AI specialists - who contribute their time, experience, and expertise. The platform makes this contribution scalable: through educational content, live streaming, Q&A sessions, and online interactions, professionals can share knowledge and support students and teachers across Italy, overcoming geographical, economic, and networking barriers.

HackersGen is not limited to self-paced online courses. The learning experience is enriched through live streaming events able to host up to 3,000 simultaneous participants, on-site activities in schools, hackathons, summer camps, and open channels for dialogue with industry professionals.

The platform tracks learning activities, progress, skills acquisition, assessments, and certifications. Students can build their first digital portfolio, enriched with Credly badges that recognise completed learning pathways, while teachers can create virtual classrooms, monitor student progress, and integrate HackersGen activities into school programmes, including career guidance initiatives and school-recognised work-based learning activities.

Today, HackersGen engages more than 11,000 students, around 700 teachers, and 150 schools across Italy. In 2025 alone, students engaged in over 30,000 hours of learning across HackersGen activities. Promoted by Fondazione Gianfranco Marilli ETS, HackersGen aims to consolidate its role as an open, inclusive, and scalable national educational infrastructure.