MainOne has for the second year, backed the Women Technology Empowerment Center’s Technology Camp. The 2015 Technology Camp is a two-week technology education and mentoring programme designed to help girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology.
Speaking at the press conference announcing the event, MainOne’s Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke, who was represented by Temitope Osunrinde noted the under-representation of women in the technology industry currently at a 7:3 ratio, as shown in global Technology Industry reports, and stressed the need for concerted efforts to reverse this imbalance.
Osunrinde referenced the 2015 Technovation Challenge World Pitch held at San Francisco in the USA where four Nigerian girls clinched $10,000 after beating finalists from India, USA, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia with their mobile app, Discardious, which seeks to tackle the refuse disposal challenge in Nigeria. He urged for concerted activities to encourage young females to take up Technology Careers, and also highlighted the opportunities the industry offers women in making meaningful contributions to society through relevant, cutting-edge innovative solutions.
He further emphasized the company’s support of initiatives aimed to encourage Technology careers for Nigerian Girls including the Global Girls in ICT Day and the W.TEC Technology Camp, “At MainOne, our goal is to provide girls of all ages with support, mentorship and the motivation to pursue ICT-driven careers, eventually becoming active role models themselves to the next generation of girls. Our CEO, Ms. Opeke is an ITU female role model and believes this cycle is necessary to create better opportunities for our girls and revert the gender imbalance in Technology.”
In her comments, the Executive Director of W.TEC, Oreoluwa Somolu, explained that the technology camp adopts a variety of strategies that enable female students maximize their learning experiences and make them better equipped to pursue careers in technology.
