THE final workshop as part of Bradford Tech Week takes place tomorrow, hoping to inspire young people to consider careers in the industry.
Social enterprise InnovateHer is behind the workshop and is on a mission to “get girls ready for the tech industry and and tech industry ready for girls”.
Chelsea Slater, co-found of the organisation, said: “Currently, women take up only 17% of tech jobs across the U.K so we want to inspire young people to consider careers in tech, as well as support them with skills, confidence and opportunities.”
She added that the event aims to inspire students to explore the wide range of careers there are in technology.
“InnovateHer will bring inspiring speakers who work within the technology sector to tell students about their journey, what skills are required and what cool projects they have worked on.
“Then we’ll go into a practical session, where students will create their own ‘future map’ and research their chosen careers. This is a great opportunity for young people to explore careers they might not have considered before and also a chance for them to meet role models in their local area.”
She added that around 90 per cent of jobs now require digital skills, so exploring what skills are needed and what roles are out there is important.
“The future is in the hands of the next generation, they have the power to create new, advanced technologies that could contribute to the worlds biggest problems; like climate change, the environment, sustainability, inclusion or education, to name a few,” she said.
Already this week there have been two workshops run by tech experts Exa Networks – the Exa Hack Jam and a Virtual Video Games Tour.
Tech Week has been launched by Bradford Means Business, The Telegraph & Argus, LOCALiQ and tech experts Exa Networks. The initiative aims to help young people into careers in digital industries.
The programme is all online this year, with the workshops, and tech-related learning videos available on the Tech Week YouTube channel.
These include exploring AI learning with the University of Bradford; courses in tech at Keighley College, Science Festival STEM activities, and the PwC Employability Hub.
Tech Week aims to firmly place the idea of tech as a career into the minds of school and college students across the district and challenge them to think about how tech impacts on almost every type of business.
The team behind the initiative have been working closely with the University of Bradford, Bradford College, City Fibre, Exa Networks, Cloud2, Teledyne, BTL, Virtual College, and Emerald, to develop an interactive programme for students and give them a taste of life in the tech sector.
Visit bradfordmeansbusiness.com for more.
