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DIGITAL WORLD
include recommendations on how as a country we can tackle the gender gap in science, engineering and technology.
GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS And there is plenty happening at the grassroots also. Ireland Girl Geek Dinners, Coding Grace, DigiWomen, AskATon, Women in Technology and Science (WITS), PyLadies Dublin and CoderDojo Girls have teamed up to plan events that reflect their collective female-friendly ethos and encourage diversity in tech. The idea first came from Christina Lynch, organiser of
Girl Geek Dinners Ireland, a community for women working, studying or interested in Stem subjects, and the other groups were eager to jump on board. The first event – entitled ‘We ARE Here’ – took place at the end of November. “The first event was meant to answer the question ‘Where are
‘When it came to pitching for funding or for new business, it was clear that I was more confident than my [male] co- founders, so I took on that role and I got up and pitched the business’
RINA ONUR, CO-FOUNDER AND CSO, PEAK GAMES
the women in tech?’ and highlight the seven groups involved,” explains Andreea Wade, spokesperson for the event and also the founder of AskATon, a female-friendly knowledge-sharing event series focused on tech and digital. WITS is an active forum for women in Stem chaired by
Sadhbh McCarthy. DigiWomen is a newly founded company that focuses on women, technology and entrepreneurship led by Pauline Sargent. Coding Grace is a group of developers providing female-friendly workshops and events co-founded by Vicky Lee, who is also the founder of PyLadies Dublin, the first Irish chapter of PyLadies, which brings together female developers working in Python. CoderDojo Girls, which joined at a later stage, is a free weekly
girl-friendly CoderDojo hosted at Dublin City University through organisers Sarah Doran and Niambh Scullion. These groups are evidence that women and girls are actively
working and engaging in the tech community, but, as Wade notes, “we need more women in these tech entrepreneurial spaces and we ultimately need more diversity”.
MAKING WOMEN FEEL WELCOME Wade believes that groups like this have an industry-wide impact and that providing a female-friendly first step opens up the gates for more women to enter the tech space. “This is what
52 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 7 Autumn/Winter 2013
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