Old Mutual innovation hub – Eight2Five – will this Friday 17 March, host a computer coding training for women in a bid to hone computer programming skills in females as well to rouse interest in more digital and innovation careers for women.
The coding bootcamp slated for 17 March, was inspired by this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.’
According to data from the US based International Center for Women & Information Technology, women have made huge advances in fields like medicine and law, but the high-tech fields are still dominated by men.
With Old Mutual keen to develop more tech-focused skills in women to break the gender divide, the coding bootcamp seeks to empower women that are interested in understanding the basics of coding and ignite interest in more digital and innovation careers.
The bootcamp will be half day and is open to people that do not have any coding skills. By the end of the training, the ladies will be able to build their basic websites and develop UX design skills.
At Old Mutual Zimbabwe, entrepreneurship is an important core pillar of the responsible business strategy. The commitment to supporting small businesses so that they realize their aspiration is being driven by creating initiatives and opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Last year, Eight2Five innovation hub commenced its cloud computing upskilling programme for local technology and information communication technology (ICT) entrepreneurs.
The programme sought to upskill local entrepreneurs and start-ups in solving real-world problems through technology.
Kickstarting the program, Eight2Five powered by Old Mutual last year hosted the first hybrid Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Computing onboarding in Harare.
The cloud computing session was a success, which drew over 65 developers and tech enthusiasts that attended the event in person while others joined virtually.
“Ensuring that female entrepreneurs get a globally competitive advantage is of great importance to us, this is why we took the initiative to put this together and continue the journey of empowerment,” Old Mutual Womens Network leader Kudakwashe Mswaka,said.
The vision of the Eight2Five innovation hub is to partner with Zimbabwean entrepreneurs and start-ups to achieve a shared vision of solving real world and business problems through technology.
The coding bootcamp is opened to all women pursuing coding skills that unlock digital and innovation ideas and careers, for more information visit: https://eight2five.co.zw or email info@eight2five.co.zw.