 |
 | |
| Abbreviation | W.TEC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2008 |
| Founder | Oreoluwa Lesi |
| Purpose | Technology education for women |
| Location | |
| Website | wtec |
The Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a non-profit organization that provides technology education for women and girls in Nigeria. [1] [2] W.TEC offers services and programs including mentoring, training, technology camps, awareness campaigns, collaborative projects, and research and publication in order to empower women. [3] [4]
Oreoluwa Lesi had noticed a gender gap in the knowledge of Information and communications technology in Nigeria and other African countries. She founded the organization in 2008 in Lagos. [3]
Over the years, W.TEC has extended its scope, reaching over 26,000 participants and expanding into Kwara and Anambra states. [5] [6]
In 2017, Facebook partnered with W.TEC to improve Internet safety. [7]
W.TEC's work includes technology-training programmes for girls through intensive girls-only camps and technology clubs in W.TEC academy. [8] During the camps and after-school clubs, the girls learn to create and innovate with technology by building and making websites, web applications, video games, films, and other digital content. [9] In the words of Adeola Akinyemiju, the Finance Director, W.TEC "is training girls on electronic and digital circuit technologies, web designs to bridge the gender gap in the engineering space." [10] [11] The organisation advocates against and works to break down gender stereotypes, especially with respect to careers. [12]
Programmes operated by W.TEC include:
In March 2019, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, visited W.TEC as part of a worldwide tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Web. [14] [15] During his visit, he spoke about the "Contract for the Web". He later remarked that his audience, largely composed of young girls, had "wonderful energy and creativity". [16] In 2020, Time magazine asked Tim Berners-Lee to write to a young person or group of young people of his own choosing. He chose the girls of W.TEC. [17]
Nigeria is Africa's largest ICT market, accounting for 82% of the continent's telecoms subscribers and 29% of internet usage. Globally, Nigeria ranks 11th in the absolute number of internet users and 7th in the absolute number of mobile phones.
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow at the University of Oxford and a professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The digital divide is the unequal access to digital technology, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the internet. The digital divide worsens inequality around access to information and resources. In the Information Age, people without access to the Internet and other technology are at a disadvantage, for they are unable or less able to connect with others, find and apply for jobs, shop, and learn.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a two-phase United Nations-sponsored summit on information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis. WSIS Forums have taken place periodically since then. One of the Summit's chief aims is to bridge the global digital divide separating rich countries from poor countries by increasing internet accessibility in the developing world. The conferences established 17 May as World Information Society Day.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of organizations that was founded in 1990 to provide communication infrastructure, including Internet-based applications, to groups and individuals who work for peace, human rights, protection of the environment, and sustainability. Pioneering the use of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing countries, APC were often the first providers of Internet in their member countries.
The global digital divide describes global disparities, primarily between developed and developing countries, in regards to access to computing and information resources such as the Internet and the opportunities derived from such access.
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The World Wide Web Foundation, also known as the Web Foundation, is a US-based international nonprofit organization advocating for a free and open web for everyone. It was cofounded by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and Rosemary Leith. Announced in September 2008 in Washington, D.C., the Web Foundation launched operations in November 2009 at the Internet Governance Forum.
Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan is a Pakistani politician who served as Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, in the Abbasi cabinet from April to May 2018. Previously she served as the Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication of Pakistan from June 2013 to July 2017 in the third Sharif ministry and again from August 2017 to April 2018 in the Abbasi ministry. She had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to May 2018 representing the Pakistan Muslim League (N). In the 2024 Pakistani Senate election, Anusha emerged victorious in the senate seats reserved for women.
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Chairman, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc
Oreoluwa Somolu Lesi is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and UK-trained economist and information technology expert. She is the founder and executive director of Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), a non-profit organisation that empowers women and girls socially and economically through education in Information technology. W.TEC was established in the year 2008. She is a fellow of Ashoka and a recipient of the Anita Borg Institute (ABIE) Change Agent Award.
Funke Opeke is a Nigerian electrical engineer, founder of Main Street Technologies and Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable Company, a communications services company based in Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.
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Farida Mohammad Kabir is a Nigerian epidemiologist, software developer, and technology entrepreneur. She is the team lead for Google Women TechMakers and co-organizer for Google Developer Group, Abuja. She is also the founder/CEO of OTRAC, a health technology company that develops enterprise software systems for the healthcare sector in Nigeria.
Olatokunbo Arinola Somolu is a Nigerian structural engineer. She was the first Nigerian woman to gain a PhD in any engineering field.
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Joy Osomiamhe-Onumajuru, is a Nigerian ex beauty pageant winner and entrepreneur. She is the founder of African Scholars Care Initiative and Diamond Scholars Royal Academy.
Shamim Rajani is an entrepreneur and businesswoman from Karachi, Pakistan. In 2004, she began to work professionally in the Information Technology (IT) industry of Pakistan. In 2005, she co-founded Genetech Solutions, a software development company, based in Karachi, Pakistan. Since 2010, she has been serving as the chief operating officer (COO) in the same company. In the year 2017, she launched the computer training program under the ConsulNet Corporation to educate non-tech women in Karachi. In 2018, she launched another training program, CodeGirls, in partnership with Faiza Yousuf. The CodeGirls is the subsidiary of ConsulNet Corporation. In the same year, she also began to serve as an advisor for WomenInTechPK and became the Pakistani ambassador at CryptoChicks, a research institute based in Toronto, Canada. In 2019, she became the board member of the Pakistan Agile Development Society. In the second quarter of the year 2020, she was elected as the vice-chairperson of P@SHA. She began to serve in the office from the mid of October 2020 while working closely with Jehan Ara, the president of P@SHA.
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