An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2019) |
The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (July 2024) |
Girl Geek Scotland (GGS) was established in 2008 and is part of the Girl Geek Dinners network. GGS held its first Girl Geek Dinner in Dundee in February 2009. A group in Edinburgh was established shortly after [1] and GGS has now grown to include groups in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
In September 2009, GGS won funding from the UKRC[citation needed] in a collaborative bid with Leeds Girl Geek Dinners to support a speaker series for 2010 on the theme of "Creativity, Computing and Entrepreneurialism". Through this speaker series GGS intends to support knowledge transfer into business and entrepreneurial activities, which has been identified as key to Britain's economic recovery and future in the Digital Britain Report. The School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh are acting as the parent organisation for this project. Other key funders which provided match funding are Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance[citation needed] and WYLLN.[citation needed] There is a growing list of sponsors and partners for this project which now includes NCR Corporation, Blonde Digital, brightsolid, Harvey Nash, British Computer Society, NTI Leeds, Carbon Imagineering, Kilo 75, Codeworks, Digital 20/20 and the WEA (Workers' Educational Association) Scotland.
The Speaker Series was launched[2] in Dundee Contemporary Arts by Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Shanna Telllerman CEO of Wildpockets[citation needed] a spin out company from Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.[3][4]
In late 2009, Girl Geek Scotland won funding from Informatic Ventures in Edinburgh,[citation needed] to develop three intensive residential workshops for 2010 on the subjects of 'Creativity into business', 'Developing a Funding Strategy' and 'Negotiation Strategies and Techniques'. The Workshops are for women in pre-start-up business; start-up businesses and existing businesses in the technology sector in Scotland.
The Enterprise Workshops took place over three weekends in September, October and November in 2010 and helped approximately 30 female entrepreneurs progress or develop their enterprise concepts and start-up businesses.
Girl Geek Scotland went dark during 2011–2012 while many of the volunteer organisers needed to focus on their main projects. But in Spring 2013, the GGS organisers were awarded funding for more events 2013–2014. The biggest was a special summer double event called "Conversations with Silicon Valley" that welcomed four inspirational female sector leaders from Silicon Valley to take part in a dinner panel, chaired by Suzanne Doyle-Morris. The guests were Heidi Roizen, Wendy Lea, Ann Winblad, and Karen White; followed by the "Summer Start-Up Party" for the local tech and start-up community.
References
edit- ^ "IT girls in networking revolution". The Scotsman. 25 July 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
- ^ "Girls gather". The Courier. Dundee, Scotland. 2010-02-10. Archived from the original on February 15, 2010.
- ^ Harris, Phil (17 December 2009). "Scotland in Focus: Girl Geek Scotland – Part 1". SquareGo. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
- ^ Harris, Phil (7 January 2010). "Scotland in Focus: Girl Geek Scotland – Part 2". SquareGo. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
External links
edit- Official website
- Simpson, Morna (2016-02-24). "Why the IT Crowd needs more women". FutureScot. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
Girl Geek Scotland aims to draw attention to this issue as a cultural phenomenon and help to rebalance the ecosystem. We are seeking sponsorship to offer scholarships to women from India, to come to Scotland and study Data Engineering or a related subject, with the aim of encouraging a cultural exchange that will banish the myth that computing is a subject for men only. Let's learn from their experiences why a career in computing is such an attractive proposition in India.