Over 1,700 Young Latin American Women Took Part in the Largest Chicas en Tecnología’s Edition

Over 1,700 Young Latin American Women Took Part in the Largest Chicas en Tecnología’s Edition

Chicas en Tecnología (CET) held the 11th edition of the Chicas Líderes en Tecnología (Leading Girls in Technology) festival, a face-to-face and online free conference for young women from 13 to 23 years of age, where they could enjoy workshops, talks, and interactive activities aimed at encouraging them to explore technology as a tool for social change.

For both the over 1,000 adolescents and young women who attended the Metropolitan Design Center (CMD) (Buenos Aires City) and the 700 who followed it online, the meeting represented a one-of-a-kind opportunity to discover, along with specialists, the latest developments in technology in connection with different sectors, such as education, health, arts, and fashion.

Exploring to Learn

The face-to-face workshops allowed hundreds of young women to practically and amiably learn about and awaken their curiosity in artificial intelligence, design thinking, digital communication with a gender perspective, fashion and algorithms, robotics, digital citizenship, technology, and mental health, among others.

Moreover, the almost 20 stands of universities, companies, and civil society organizations in the central nave of the CMD provided the participants with the chance to playfully interact with different scientific-technological advances with a social purpose.

They found technological applications for design and marketing, virtual reality headsets to raise awareness on road management, block coding games, 3D modeling for education and health, robots with challenges, fact-checking tests, and trivia games on financial education.

Inspirational and Innovative

Female role models from the sector offered face-to-face and online talks and interviews where they addressed emerging technology-related topics such as robotics, sustainability, disinformation, and entrepreneurship. They were: Marisabel Rodríguez, Agustina Paz, Pía Torres, Laura Benbenaste, Olivia Sohr, Mónica Buitrón, and Natalia Pérez.

The meeting was hosted by Journalist Julieta Schulkin and Public Science Educator Lu Parrondo, both specialists in the tech world. The festival also had live music performed by artists who mix art with technology: Ignacia, Paula Pazos, and Josefina Bonifacio.

An Intersectoral Look for an Inclusive Ecosystem

This year, CET’s initiative was carried out in an alliance with Fundación Cimientos and Enseñá por Argentina, as part of the project “Fortaleciendo la trayectoria en STEM de mujeres jóvenes de Argentina” (Strengthening young Argentinian women’s journey in STEM), co-funded by the European Union. During the festival, the organizations were declared of special significance by the Buenos Aires City Legislature.

Chicas Líderes en Tecnología (Leading Girls in Technology) adopted an intersectoral approach with the participation of leading companies, universities, governmental bodies, and civil society organizations, which allowed the participants to explore and understand the social impact that scientific-technologic challenges can have.

Supporters of the festival: Google, Globant, Microsoft, Todomoda, Lenovo Foundation, Monks, Prisma, Fonplata, Fundación Telefónica Movistar, DirecTV, Government of Buenos Aires City, Simplicity, Rasti, Matific, Educabot, Wingu, Chequeado, Puerta 18, Chicos.net, MINU Asociación Civil, ACAP, UBA’s Exact Science School, UBA’s Engineering School, UNTREF, Universidad Nacional del Sur, ITBA, Universidad Nacional de la Matanza, UADE, UTN Avellaneda, Universidad Nacional de Hurlingham.

The event was attended by public and private high schools and, had the participation, as a broadcasting alliance, of 40 Argentinian and regional civil society organizations that amplified the call and made it possible to reach young women from different backgrounds.