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Smart Society

Smart Society

At NXP, we are committed to stimulating innovation at all levels, from mentoring young people interested in how things work, to guiding budding scientists in their pursuit of building life-changing technologies. We support entrepreneurs and designers working in incubators and start-ups, whether you're a small startup and need some design expertise, or an engineer with a product idea that you want to get to market quickly. With access to design tools, technical support and connections to a vast startup ecosystem, NXP can help move your project from concept, to prototype, to launch.

Here is a sample of the programs we support to inspire the next generation of innovators:

Our support of STEM, startups and incubators impacts our larger world and communities ultimately creating the infrastructure for ADAS and connected cars, IoT solutions, smart cities, smart stadiums and more.

We're building a smarter society, one project at a time.

TECHNOLOGIES

APPLICATIONS

Creating a Smarter Society, One micro:bit at a Time

NXP and BBC: inspiring a new generation to get creative
with coding, programming and digital technology

NXP has partnered with the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) on a truly exemplary program in the UK, the BBC micro:bit. The micro:bit is a handheld, fully programmable personal coding device being manufactured and given free to every 11-12 year-old child across the UK – 1 million devices total – as part of BBC’s “Make it Digital Initiative.”

A collaboration between 29 partners, the micro:bit is the BBC's most ambitious education initiative in 30 years. It is designed to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers. It aims to encourage young people to get creative with digital design and develop core skills in science, technology and engineering. It’s 70 times smaller and 18 times faster than the original BBC Micro computers used in schools in the early 1980s. In the 1980s, the BBC Micro introduced many children to computing for the first time and the BBC micro:bit, part of the BBC’s 2015 Make it Digital initiative, will build on the legacy of that project for the digital age.

Product partners taking the lead on design, manufacturing and distribution for the micro:bit include NXP Semiconductors, ARM, Barclays, element14, Lancaster University, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, Samsung, ScienceScope, and Technology Will Save Us.

NXP Role and Contribution

As a key technology partner of the program, NXP began working with the BBC and other partners in 2014 and has contributed four of its products within each device. UK students are using several NXP solutions, including:

NXP stimulates the next generation of innovators

  • Find out what students thought about the BBC micro:bit at a sneak-peek event aboard NXP’s “Smarter World Tour” truck.
    Read more

Forbes | CMO Network

  • “We tend to trust our principles and vision.” John Dixon explains why NXP gave micro:bits to our employee's kids.
    Read more

Dig deeper: BBC microbits

  • Find out more about the BBC's most ambitious education initiative in 30 years, designed to inspire digital creativity and develop a new generation of tech pioneers
    Read more