Kurs ICT and Entrepreneurship for Women in Tech:

Linet Lores Sánchez, Nkechi Osuji

After graduating as a female Computer Science Student/Software Engineer, you may think that you are going to become a nerd programmer in a dark room, working on your computer with some pizza slices by the side. Being a programmer is great; but, do you know that you might be missing out on the endless opportunities to solve even bigger technology problems? That’s right! I am sure you are wondering, but how? By having an entrepreneurial mindset as a women in technology. Oftentimes, entrepreneurship is been thought about as a career course which takes away the main ingredient of what it really is: a mindset, a movement, an opportunity to turn a problem into an innovation.. As women in technology, you have a better advantage to empower  yourself by creating ICT solutions to solve problems. Through a 2-day intensive course, you get the chance to be a changemaker in your community bringing about innovative IT solutions and skills. Below is a breakdown of the course content:

Day 1: During this course, you will be exposed to the relevance of modern ICT for women and how they can optimise job opportunities in the field of ICT and business. The course will cover comparative analysis of case studies of women in the ICT field while applying  critical thinking and problem solving capabilities. Additionally, participants will be able to identify the most important factors surrounding the cases and recommend best course of action for the study analysis.

Day 2:Now that participants have a business idea in one hand, and the IT skills on the other one, how do they move forward in order to create innovative solutions? Attendants will be introduced and guided through simple-steps pathway towards turning their business idea into relevant an ICT-based solution. From the development of business model to the design of a mobile application, participants will walk their way to empowering themselves as women in Tech entrepreneurs.

Objectives: At the end of the course period, you will be able to:

• Integrate knowledge related to entrepreneurship and real ICT solutions for business.

• Apply basic ICT knowledge in building digital solutions for entrepreneurial activities.

• Develop soft competences such as self confidence, good communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving capabilities.

• Broaden your capacity-building towards developing relevant content for ICT-based start-ups.

Learning Outcome

• Creating a  business model from a business idea that develops into an IT innovation

• Designing a functional test mobile application using the IT skills and business knowledge gained from group work and input sessions.

Why should a student attend this course?

While many jobs will disappear or face significant changes in the course of digitalization, a vast variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurship will be created at the same time. Entrepreneurship may represent an alternative attractive employment opportunity for women besides wage jobs.

Students will be able to apply the knowledge gained from this course into real world problems, thereby creating IT solutions for entrepreneurial and career. empowerment. Additionally, learning skills such as communicating, critical thinking, problem solving, analytical and experiencing new bonding with fellow attendees will be enhanced during this program, thereby giving them a proper boost to grow and solve existing ICT business problems as it relates to women. 

What is she learning? 

Main takeaways:

Digitalization offers a variety of opportunities for jobs  and for a more equal female participation in labor markets, financial markets, and entrepreneurship. These are times where IT skills are the new gun for success, therefore women in Tech careers have more potential to succeed both in conventional jobs and startups. After this course, students will be equipped with a wider understanding, awareness and knowledge concerning the importance that ICT have to women empowerment.

• Analytic and presentation skills for business and career development

• Applicable business models that are relevant to ICT-related startups.

• Basic software skills for building a mobile application.

What can she do afterwards?

• You can become a founder of your own startup with the right business skills and IT tools

• You can also become a Business Analyst

• After building a mobile application prototype, you gain the skills necessary to develop an App (App developer).