 |
 | |
| 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]
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Berners-Lee proposed an information management system on 12 March 1989, then implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet in mid-November.
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.
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Somolu is a local government area (LGA) in Lagos. It is located in Southwest Nigeria, North of Lagos city and its administrative headquarters is located on Durosimi Street. Somolu Local Government is part of the Lagos East Senatorial Zone and a lawmaker represents the district at the Federal House of Representatives. Somolu is plagued by problems of poor sanity, high rent, overall poverty and youth criminal subculture. It is also known for its printing industry, which is the largest in Lagos and one of the most diverse in the world. Most notably, offset and digital print shops can be found on the Bajulaiye Road.
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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.
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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. Her company called MainOne is West Africa's leading communications services and network solutions provider.
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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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