Girlgeekdinners Archives | Women's Tech Hub~Bristol

13th June 202113th June 2021

Data Week Online & CogX Festival

Jean Golding Institute’s Data Week June the 14th – 18th

The Jean Golding Institute is excited to announce Data Week Online 2021, a jam-packed week of complimentary workshops, renowned speakers and interactive events showcasing the latest in Data Science and AI.

Here’s some of the subject matter:

Beginners and intermediate R, Data Science, Python, Data Automation, Digital Twins, Robot trading, Visual Analytics, AI, Data Ethics, Big Data, Tableau, Cybercriminal careers, Command Line Interface, Business and Social perspectives, research in explainability, App building, SPHERE, COVID 19, Translational funding and plenty more.

Feel free (literally) to sign up here.

CogX festival June the 14th – 18th

A Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI & Transformational Technology addressing the question “How do we get the next 10 years right?”

There’s lots to get your teeth into at this one:

Global Leadership, CreaTech, Lab to Live, Next Gen Infrastructure & Industry 4.0, Open Web, Research, Start-up to IPO, The Future of Work & HR, The Planet & Smart Cities, GLS Side Events, Cutting Edge, Cyber & Defence, Economy, EdTech & Education, Ethics & Society, FinTech & Future Financial Services & Health & Wellbeing

6th June 20216th June 2021

Weston Open Week & StemFest

University Centre Weston

During this week-long event, University Centre Weston will be showcasing all of the degree courses and higher education facilities on offer in Weston-super-Mare.

Join them virtually Monday – Thursday for subject specific online events where you’ll learn more about the degrees within these areas.

Join them in person on Saturday for their first Campus Open Day of the year, and see their facilities for yourself.

This event is open to everyone – whether you are an existing Weston College student or have never studied with us before. You can join as many sessions as you like – just signup for each one you’d like to attend! Check it out here.

South West STEM Fest 7th – 25th of June

On behalf of STEM Ambassador Hubs South West Peninsula and West England we are thrilled to offer you a three week virtual programme of STEM activities designed to educate and inspire young people across our region. We have been blown away by the response from employers, organisations and STEM Ambassadors. There is something here for everyone across all ages and for parents and carers too. The content is broad and varied, some sessions will be practical and require resources to be downloaded, others are presentation style. We also have science shows and careers focused workshops. Most sessions will be delivered live via Zoom or Teams with the option for questions through the chat function.

30th May 202130th May 2021

Start-up support and free training

Women Tech Founders Bristol Business Support Series

Our next event is about starting a business – it’s for anyone interested in knowing some more about setting up a business and ask questions so feel free to pop in even if you don’t feel ready to take the plunge. Details are on our WTF ~ Bristol page here.

Free and affordable training courses

We’ve been chatting to the local universities and Weston college recently and we were right – there’s lots of money coming through from the government to support re-skilling both with apprenticeships and free training. We’ll let you know more as we understand more but it sounds like they are insisting on 50% women, which is great to hear!

Below is this weeks info from Weston College – the level 3 is the equivalent of 2 A levels but there are a plethora of others up to level 7 coming which are the equivalent of masters. We’ll try and debunk them as we go but keep an eye on us while we explain them. These are of interest for Coding practices and IT skills. Check it out here.

We’ve partnered with UWE Bristol to deliver a range of FREE Level 3 qualifications at UWE Bristol’s easy-to-reach Frenchay Campus.
Weston College

To be eligible you’ll need to be aged 19+ without a Level 3 qualification. The courses start soon – so signup today to secure your place. Our unique partnership with UWE Bristol brings together Weston College’s OFSTED outstanding further education courses with UWE Bristol’s Gold standard higher education facilities on the outskirts of Bristol.

We currently have courses available covering a variety of subjects – and as full Level 3 qualifications, they’re ideal whether you’re looking to retrain, upskill or progress on to university.

Here’s what we can offer:

Your course and all associated examination fees, for FREE – providing you’re eligible and live in the South West of England.
A mixture of classroom-based lectures in Bristol and online learning.
Support available via your own tutor to help you succeed.
All the benefits of studying at Weston College and UWE Bristol – including exclusive student discounts.

CogX festival is coming up next week and here’s the free ticket link

A Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI & Transformational Technology addressing the question “How do we get the next 10 years right?”

Creative Informatics Innovation Showcase 2021

The 2021 Creative Informatics Innovation Showcase is taking place online on the 8th and 9th of June, presenting a host of fantastic Creative Informatics projects, and featuring special guest speakers, panels, interactive performances and meet ups!

Join us to find out more about inspiring data-driven work being done by individuals and organisations in Edinburgh and South East Scotland’s creative industries, as we reveal some of the innovative products, services and experiences that have been developed with funding and support from Creative Informatics.

New FemTech in Town

We spoke to a new FemTech company during the week and they’re hiring and looking for women to join them. Check out their jobs: User Researcher, Quality Manager, Senior Embedded Electronics Engineer (needle in a haystack we believe on that one) and Project Manager.

23rd May 202123rd May 2021

So you want to get into Tech?

It looks like there are some great initiatives coming into the area. We are aware that the government bodies have been starting a bigger drive towards digital skilling and lifelong learning so we’re keeping an eye out for any offerings.

DETI: Hopes and Challenges for under-represented people in digital engineering

The DETI programme is looking to play its role in supporting/ creating digital jobs, skills, and workplaces that support and include everyone, and drive innovation and creativity in the West of England.

Listening Workshops – June- July 2021

You’re invited to share your Hopes and Challenges for under-represented people in engineering as part of the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) Programme. Full invitation with details/dates/sign up form, all online, 60 mins duration.

Manchester Digital offering Bristol apprenticeships with BJSS

BJSS will be recruiting and training all their level 4 software developers UK wide through their apprenticeship programme. Their next cohort starts on 20th September and they have 2 places with BJSS in Bristol that they are looking to fill. They advise the salary will be between £18 and £23k plus employer benefits. BJSS will be able to provide more information on their salary and benefits during the recruitment process.

Full information on the apprenticeship programme, and the application form can be found here. When completing the application form it’s important candidates check Bristol within the location box.

A few keys dates:

Wednesday 26th May 1pm : Online webinar & Q&A for anyone that would like to find out more about the programme, the recruitment process, and eligibility, candidates can register here. They will be recording this session, so if anyone can’t make the webinar they can share the recording afterwards.
Friday 18th June: Applications close for candidates so they can review and begin the recruitment process
Monday 20th September: The first day of the apprenticeship begins with a 4 week get ready Bootcamp, they’re aiming for this to be face to face and it would ideally be held in Manchester (travel and accommodation costs would be covered) but this is subject to government guidance nearer the time (there may also be some flexible options here for women with caring responsibilities)

Free Wellbeing Workshop resources for companies

We spotted this resource for companies where you’ll be guided through a number of slides that will help you define practical solutions to:

approaches you will take and behaviours you can adopt to support your mental wellbeing;
early warning signs of poor mental health to look out for;
any workplace triggers for poor mental health or stress;
potential impact of poor mental health on performance;
what support may be needed;
positive steps.

She Inspires awards

Not so tech-related but may be worth you taking a look and nominating some of the brilliant women in your life. We also know one of the women involved so thought it worth a shout out.

16th May 202116th May 2021

Reflections on extending human capability with AI

This week we were asked to share some info about a talk and we hadn’t actually spotted this seminar series before so thought it would be of interest to you all (sign up here).

Guest talk by Cecily Morrison: Reflections on extending human capability with AI: the PeopleLens case study

About this event

Abstract: HCI has taken a strong stance that AI technologies augment or extend human-capabilities rather than mimic or replace them. This talk considers what extending human capability with AI might mean in practical terms and the challenges that arise. I draw upon examples designing and building out the PeopleLens, an AI experience intended to helps blind and low vision children understand who is in their immediate vicinity.

Bio: Cecily is a researcher in the Future of Work community at Microsoft Research Cambridge interested in developing novel technologies to enable people’s health and well-being in the broadest sense. Put simply, Cecily wants to build technologies that matter to people.

Cecily’s research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction and Artificial Intelligence. Working in a cross-disciplinary collaboration, her current focus is on AI applications for those with visual disabilities. Cecily is exploring the interaction paradigms between people and agents that can be brought to bear to extend human capability through subtle dialogues with agents that see.