Female Arab Techies meet in Beirut
In December 2008, the Arab Techies collective convened for the first time in Cairo around the objective of promoting techies’ support and engagement with community-based projects and initiatives.
While many commented on the uniqueness of the event, being the first Arabic event of its kind; which doesn't just translate to using a common language but also meant common concerns and similar struggles, there was criticism to the lack of gender balance in the gathering. From there, the idea of organizing a women only Arab Techies gathering developed. As part of the Arab Techies initiative, the Arab Techies women gathering’s crux is to promote the contribution of female techies to communities concerned with social change and who are in dire need for technical support. This contribution is believed to be significant in strengthening the role of ICT in social and political change and cannot be sidelined for trivial reasons such as the lack of assertiveness amongst female techies in male-dominated communities.
With the support of the HBS and HIVS, the Arab Techies women gathering could be realized in Beirut from the May 11-14. The Lebaneses organisation SMEX and a board of Arab techies have spent the past couple of months organizing a meetup of about 34 women from ten Arab countries to talk about technology, empowerment, entrepreneurship, development, and whatever else they want to put on the table. Participants were programmers, web developers, artists, teachers, professors, PhD students, bloggers, social media experts, activists, NGO coordinators and came from Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, and Oman.
For more information around the event please visit the webpage of Arab Techies http://arabtechies.net.