Last Saturday, a new edition of the largest technology entrepreneurship competition for girls in the world was launched, organized by the American non-profit association Technovation. 261 participants from 170 connections took part, plus 20 speakers, guests and teachers and 150 girls and tutors in the various activities carried out.
The event was inaugurated by Maria Jose Valero, ambassador of the Valencian Community Technovation Girls e Pilar Bernabé, Deputy Mayor of the Innovative Development Area of the Economic and Employment Sectors of the City of Valencia. “The low presence of women in STEM careers is partly due to the lack of references that promote the scientific vocation in girls and both with this program and at Espai Lidera we struggle to create references for our girls,” said Pilar Bernabé.
The event was developed in digital format and is the beginning of the contest that challenges girls, every year, to change the world through technology. A contest in which, in team and with the help of mentors, they will create their own apps to solve real social problems. The different speakers who attended contributed ideas to make this possible.
Dal canto suo, Debra Westall, director of American Space Valencia and lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, assured that “it gives the hand to the girls who need it to engage in technological projects, thanking the possibility of working directly with them. As a mother I am thrilled to know that our young women will have the opportunity to see the problems of CL and find solutions ”. Amparo Oliver, Professor of Psychology at the University of Valencia, commented that “at UV we are committed to entrepreneurship and reducing the digital gender gap. Technology is one of the foundations of the progress of our society and if we do not address this problem that currently exists, we will not be able to achieve true equality ”.
Juanma Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova, stated that “at Finnova we work on the challenges of the United Nations SDGs. We detect the needs that exist in society as a whole and establish a series of challenges to solve the problems: climate and environmental; circular economy in the textile sector; and with the optimization of food waste. One of the biggest challenges is climate change. So, we launched the girls to contribute an app to help prevent fires ”.
The event also saw the participation of several companies. About this, Mercedes Maria Ruiz, Sales Director at Capgemini Spain counted as a technological vocation was born when she was a child, and as a curiosity, it marked her future career. A very inspiring testimony for the girls and adolescents participating in the Technovation Girls CV. Marisa Doménech, Everis Health Manager shared her life story and encouraged the girls not to be afraid, to dare even when they are dizzy. Vanessa Peino, commercial director of the Google Cloud Public Sector, highlighted the importance of technology in addressing various social problems. For example, artificial intelligence is fundamental in our daily life and how it will be a key sector in the future, generating a strong social impact.
Another of the guests invited to participate in this event was the journalist and writer Nieves Concostrina, who said “you are the pioneers of the future and it is a great pride to see how girls have grown up in this country. There is a lot to do and only education will make you free people and better science. And the Valencian researcher, Petra Mª Pérez, proposed a handbook to girls who, under the title The challenge is to move forward, try to develop a creative attitude, a critical sense or learn to overcome frustration.
After the presentation, the young women and their mentors carried out the activities, focusing on the APP Inventor approach, video and narrative editing and the facilitation of virtual collaborative sessions with MURAL. After uploading their programs to the platform, on April 19th, they will enter the regional final in May, where out of 10 teams, one will go to the European final, where they will be the finalists. The five best scores in each category (junior 10-14 and senior 15-18) will go to the world final.
In the Valencian Community this program is led and promoted by the company Talent Growth Management (TGMBP) in the figure of its CEO María José Valero.
It has the support of the Generalitat Valenciana, the University of Valencia, the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Jaume I University. In addition, the Municipality of Valencia, Valencia Activa, the Provincial Council of Castellón, the American Space Valencia, Google, Capgemini, Everis, 480, the president of innovation, Taronja TIC and the Finnova Foundation.
The Finnova Foundation supports the program as part of Startup Europe, an initiative of European Commission to connect high-tech startups, scaleups, investors, accelerators, corporate networks, universities and the media. Startup Europe Awards, is an initiative of the DG CONNECT of the European Commission, implemented by the Finnova Foundation since 2016.
