I have been involved in WIC for awhile and this year am Vice President of the Board so have a huge and challenging job ahead of me.
I am passionate about mentoring and i think that is why i love being involved in WIC. When i was starting out in ICT, there were few female role models for me to identify with or confide in. I found some fantastic male colleagues who were generous with their knowledge and helped me build and grow in this industry and through WIC, i hope to grow as a professional, inspire and mentor others (and not just my female colleagues).
There is a fantastic line up of speakers for this years breakfast series. The theme this year is “My Brilliant Career” and we have invited senior women with ICT in Canberra to come and tell their story. Details of the series are as follows:
2009-10 HOT Breakfast Series - Women in Leadership - My Brilliant Career
2009-10 HOT Breakfast Dates
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Thursday 10 September 2009 – Ann Steward, Australian Government CIO
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Thursday 15 October 2009 – Helen Austin, General Manager - Chief Solutions Architect SBR, The Treasury
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Thursday 12 November 2009 – Narelle Dotta, CIO, Department of Veteran Affairs
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Thursday 3 December 2009 – Kate Muir, Assistant Secretary, Department of Human Services
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Thursday 11 February 2010 – Jenine Borowik, CIO, Australian Bureau of Statistics
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Thursday 11 March 2010 – Julie Fursman, National Manager, Centrelink
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Thursday 8 April 2010 – Nerida Gill, 2009 WICked Woman of the Year, Director of Admin Bandit
Each speaker’s story is very different so it should be an interesting series of talks.
WIC’s exceptionally popular annual HOT Breakfast look at the future of technology on all sorts of aspects of daily life, work and the environment..
For those of you not familiar with the HOT Breakfast Series, the aim is to enable you to:
- Enjoy a HOT Breakfast, while you
- Hear a HOT Speaker, talk about an
- Exciting HOT topic.
WIC meetings are held at , The Hall, University House, ANU
7.15 for 7.30am start finishing at 8.30am.
I encourage you to register for the whole series if you can, but if not, come along to the session that seems most relevant to your career. Registration details are on the WIC events section of the website.
This year I have been asked to give two presentations at BA World in Sydney (6 Jul), Melbourne (13 Jul), Canberra (21 Sep) and Brisbane (6 Oct). This is a great opportunity to talk about some exciting projects I have been involved in and also meet some of my BA colleagues.
The Sydney and Melbourne sessions have been fantastic and I am looking forward to Canberra in a few weeks.
I have put my presentations up on slideshare:
1. Communication and Connectedness in a Networked World and;
2. Capitalising on Female Strengths as a BA.
Hope to see you in Canberra or Brisbane.
I recently was asked to speak at a conference on attracting and retaining women in the IT industry. This was mainly aimed at IT managers, HR managers and project managers.The topic I was asked to present was capitalising on female strengths in IT.
I stuggled at first as I wanted to ensure my presentation was positive and personal (tell my story). I really didn’t want the topic to focus on what women are good at and be seen as inferring that male colleagues necessarily lack these qualities (as they don’t). WE are all a mix of our background and experience and we use our strengths within the context of the situation we are facing.
What I discussed is that the typical female archetypes
These archetypes have both strenghts and weaknesses and the key is knowing when to capitilise on these.
Today I presented to the WIC hot breakfast series on Web 2.0 and the impact of technology on social computing. I talked about how life is really fast paced, we are time poor and don’t have time to catch up with our friends and family as it is, let alone have time for social networking with web friends. But a communication and connectivity revolution is occurring and like any good revolution, its one that connect people, information and knowledge and is about the people and YOU taking control.
Yes, I’m busy and time poor, but what I’ve realised is, this is exactly why social computing works for me. By using the social computing tools available me i am sharing contacts with people I trust and learning how to quickly get through the noise on the Internet, to the sites that are going to be interesting and relevant to me.You can leverage off the power of the many and build your network through friends and friends of friends. Its about getting connected. It also about trust and how you trusted network can work for you so you can gain access to the knowledge and information you need.
This connectivity revolution is fostering innovation and creativity. Instead of the Web 1.0 top down approach to information, Web 2.0 allows a bottom up approach to sharing information. That’s why the social stuff is at the very core of Web 2.0. Knowledge may be power, but the real power is when that knowledge is shared. Viva the revolution!
Just a quick note to let you know that I am presenting at the next WIC hot breakfast series of meetings this week. I am talking about the Impact of Web 2.0 Technology and Social Computing. More information on the event can be found at WIC.
The WICked Woman of the Year Award seeks to recognise the amazing work done every day by women in the ICT industry. The WICked Woman Award is open to all women working in and making a significant contribution to the ICT industries in the
Canberra region.
The women nominated for the award in 2007 have all acted as role models or mentors for women in the ICT industry and have encouraged women into the industry.
At last night’s annual WIC in Winter Dinner, Lynette Johns-Boast was announced as the 2007 WICked Woman of the Year. Lynette has over 20 years industry experience and joined the ANU as an academic in 2003. She maintains close links with the ICT industry and has played an important role in bringing the
Canberra business community and ANU software engineering students together to help solve real-world ICT problems through project-based courses.
In 2006 Lynette hosted the inaugural ’software engineering showcase’ at ANU that was attended by many members of the local business community. In the same year she also established a mentoring group for female students studying software engineering at the ANU. This has since been extended to all computing students. The group is for first year and later year students and provides a forum for them to get advice and support from Lynette and to also establish their own support networks.
The proportion of female students studying computing degrees has fallen nationally and at ANU in the past few years. Lynette’s mentoring work, her engagement with the ICT industry through courses, and the support that Lynette has provided with College recruitment activities is important in assisting to arrest and reverse this trend. Lynette is an important role model for female students studying computing degrees and for those considering studying computing.
Congratulations Lynette, I believe she is a very worthy recipient of the WICked Woman of the Year Award.
I have been a member of WIC (Women in Communication) for some time now. It is an association designed to encourage women to enter the technology and communications industries and provide peer support for those in the industries.
What I find amusing is the reaction I get from some of my male colleagues when I mention that I went to a women’s breakfast. They joke about “secret women’s business”. A male colleague commented he finds such forums divisive. This really surprised me.
WIC actively encourage both women and men to attend their forums and the information, though tailored to mentoring women, is equally valid and applicable to our male colleagues. So please, if you hear about such events and networking groups, be supportive and come along. You are most welcome.
It is fantastic to be a part of something that is helping to inspire women to progress in the technology and communication industries. In particular, WIC is working with other organisations to develop forums where the industries can be promoted to women of all ages but in particular to girls in their last years of high school and at tertiary institutions who are in the process of making career decisions.
The association aims to:
- provide a forum where women in the technology and communications industry can network for mutual benefit;
- provide a range of activities to increase the participation of women in the technology and communication industries;
- provide a forum to develop role models of success to participate in community and school based activities to change the image of the technology and communications industry to one which is attractive to women;
- have fun.
WIC events are fun and informative. Each month an award, the “WICked” Woman of the Month award, is given to recognise the amazing work done everyday by Women in ICT. These events are a fantastic networking opportunity and are filling a need for support and discussion amongst collegaues in the industry.
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