Being big advocates for women in tech, Dressipi had the pleasure of attending the most recent Code First: Girls Conference 2017 at Twitter’s London offices.
Code First: Girls Conference 2017
‘Code First: Girls’ is a not for profit social enterprise that works exclusively with women in Britain to develop coding skills.
This conference was organised to inspire and empower women to start a career in technology and entrepreneurship, whilst also helping to make the tech industry more accessible. Events like these give women the opportunity to understand what it takes to succeed in tech, something our co-founder Donna North recently spoke about during her interview with Everywoman, when she talked about the importance of encouraging and highlighting more female role models in the technology industry.
The conference consisted of motivational talks and insightful panel discussions, the most interesting being “Should we be worried? The ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”. This panel focused on demystifying the dangers of machine learning and the gender bias in AI.
As explained by Stacy-Ann Sinclair from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, “It is important to stay open and transparent”, adding how “we need to be clever about AI - it’s a tool that solves particular problems and risks. These agents need to be unbiased, and creators have a responsibility to be transparent. Be worried but with a pinch of salt!” By this she means that those training AI datasets have natural biases and, as a result that those working in AI need to be cognisant of these inherent biases and how they can influence outcomes.
Another highlight of the day was the workshop “Building a personal narrative” lead by Anna Baird from LinkedIn. Baird highlighted the power behind your story and personal brand.
She explained that the three most important things that will allow you to grow your career are:
- To structure your career identity
- To take bigger and better opportunities
- To always be ‘on’, even when you are not in the room
In summary, the third Code First: Girls Conference 2017 was a resounding success. A very supportive and entrepreneurial, coding spirit could be sensed throughout the room. The packed Twitter offices spoke volumes for the appeal of events like this which are essential if we are to motivate and to encourage more women into the technology industry.
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