2nd ACM Celebration of Women in Computing in Africa: Africa CWIC 2024
The organizers of Africa CWIC 2024 report on their 2nd ACM Celebration of Women in Computing.
On Friday, 1st November 2024, United States International University – Africa (USIU-Africa) hosted the 2nd ACM Celebration of Women in Computing in Africa: Africa CWIC 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. The event took place at the USIU-Africa School of Science and Technology and was fully sponsored by ACM Women. This year’s theme was “Strategies to Foster Women’s Inclusion and Participation in Computing”, and it conveyed our commitment to not only talk about the barriers women in computing face in Africa, but also to come up with ways to break down those barriers.
The programme of Africa CWIC 2024 was packed with insightful talks and panels. Among those was a keynote speech by Dr Katherine Getao, former CEO of the ICT Authority in Kenya, who discussed the topic of feminine digital excellence. Dr. Katherine W. Getao, EBS, is often dubbed an “ICT Elder” in Kenya, in recognition of her 40 years of service in the private sector, academia, diplomacy as well as senior government appointments.
Another highlight of the event was a panel discussion, where our panelists focused on:
- Increasing women’s representation in cybersecurity (Dr. Paula Musuva, USIU-Africa)
- Promoting STEM education for girls (Prof. Vivian Nwaocha, National Open University of Nigeria)
- Women in Geospatial Science (Dr. Carolyne Kabaria, Research Scientist, African Population & Health Research Centre)
- Strengthening computing research by women (Dr. Njeri Ngaruiya, Strathmore University)
- Reflections on Women’s Role in the Data Science Revolution (Dr. Agnes Kiragga, African Population & Health Research Centre)
If you missed this year’s event, be sure to join us next time!