April 2011 Update

1. Survey and event: Women in Telecoms & Technology (WiTT) - Women on the Board, Tuesday 12th April at 6pm, London
In February 2011 Lord Davies released his report, 'Women on Boards'. WiTT's April meeting will feature a stellar panel who will discuss the report's conclusions (such as the lack of a recommendation for quotas) and the challenges women face in achieving high-level management and board positions in our sector.
Panellists include: Christina Ioannidis, Founder, Aquitude; Carla Stent, COO, Virgin Group; Kathleen O' Donovan, Co-Founder - Bird & Co Board & Executive Mentoring; and Helen Whitehead, Corporate Law and Governance Directorate, BIS (invited). Tickets cost £10 for non WiTT members which must be paid at the door.
The meeting will be held at Eversheds, 1 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7WS and the agenda will be:
18:00: Networking and welcome drinks
19:00: Event commences
20:30: Informal networking
In preparation for the event WiTT and Aquitude would like to survey women working in the telecoms and technology sector to understand your views on quotas and other methods of achieving better gender balance in organisations and on boards; your views on what your organisations are (or are not) doing to increase gender diversity; and what you would like to see happen. The survey results will be presented at WiTT's meeting on 12th April. The first 10 respondents to the survey from our group will be entitled to free admission at the WiTT event. They very much appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey (which should require no more than 10 minutes). If you have any questions or concerns about this survey please contact: info@wittgroup.org. The survey can be found here.


 2. A land without borders: how will the abandonment of the Default Retirement Age impact your business? Thursday 14th April 2011, London
In our upcoming free employment law breakfast briefing co-hosted with Kingsley Napley, Richard Fox, a leading expert and commentator involved in lobbying the government on the Default Retirement Age (DRA) and age discrimination, will share his views on the new changes to age discrimination legislation which comes into force in April this year. In this session, he will explain what the abolition of the DRA will mean for your organisation and how best to cope with the implications. This free event is specifically aimed at senior technologists with team management responsibilities as well as HR and in-house recruitment professionals. It's taking place on Thursday 14th April 2011, 8.30am to 10.00am at Kingsley Napley LLP, Knights Quarter, 14 St. Johns Lane, London, EC1M 4AJ. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Hayley Solly - hsolly@womenin.co.uk with the following details: First name, Surname, Company Name, Job Title, Email Address and Phone Number.


3. Elevate Your Confidence - full day training course on Friday 15th April 2011, London
Friday 15th April 2011 from 10am to 4pm, 114 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7JH. Cost: £160 + VAT (£192).
One of the most common issues many women struggle with at work is a lack of confidence and being comfortable expressing and communicating what they want. Lower self-esteem limits our successes, our achievements and our results because it stops us from going for what we truly want and many women often end up being unduly submissive in the workplace. On this one day Elevate Your Confidence course, you will learn how to increase your confidence levels as well as to access and understand the mindset of success and healthy self-esteem. Facilitated by Desi Christou, you will learn how to: access a confident state of mind in an instant; increase your self belief; use your physiology and voice to convey confidence; be comfortable expressing yourself; think more positively; access the mindset of success; utilise the power of your internal dialogue and increase your presence. For more information and to download a booking form please click here  or contact Hayley Solly at hsolly@womenin.co.uk or on 020 7422 9220.


4. Infosecurity Europe 2011, 19th to 21st April 2011, London
This year's Infosecurity Europe show will take place at London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre from the 19th to 21st April. The astonishing array of new security attack vectors - ranging from the WikiLeaks-inspired denial of service attacks, to the latest generation of compound attacks using spam, phishing and malware - mean that IT professionals at this year's show will be looking for solutions as never before. Along with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest products and services in the ever-changing IT security arena, there will be a wealth of educational sessions, all of which are - as in previous years - entirely free of charge. Highlights of the Keynote Theatre, which address the security issues and pressures that organisations face in an increasingly mobile and global working environment, include Gaynor Rich, Head Of Infosecurity for Capita Group Plc in a panel on “What compliance juggernauts are coming down the road for security” and Ms. Jinan Budge, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research leads a panel on “Don't forget the users - how to make them your biggest ally”. The budgetary issues of security will be addressed in a presentation led by Wendy Nather a Senior Analyst for The 451 Group entitled `The Effectiveness Of Information Security, another session - with presenters from Allen & Overy, Forrester Research, Money Supermarket and Novartis - will look at the issue of smartphone-driven endpoint security. The session, entitled `Can You Turn Mobile Devices To Your Advantage Or Are They The Next Big Security Hole,' comes as Apple is expected to start shipping the iPhone 5 and the iPad II, whilst Sony and others have released a flotilla of new Android-driven smartphones. Day one in the keynote theatre will see a team of specialists cover `Advanced Persistent Threats - Hype Or Reality' - looking at this newly-discovered, but potentially serious problem for IT security professionals. Panellists lined up for this session include specialists from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the online better exchange Betfair and communications giant Virgin Media. There is a topical debate on social media led by Michael Page International, the Cobra Group, Investec and the Ministry of Defence. The keynote on Securing The Cloud includes Ms. Neira Jones, Head of Payment Security, Barclaycard. To register free to visit or for more information please go to www.infosec.co.uk


5. Survey: Researching the interoperation of software development processes and software localisation
Malte Ressin, a research student at the Centre for Internationalisation and Usability at Thames Valley University based in Ealing is currently researching the interoperation of software development processes and software localisation. Previously she lead the software localisation team of a major German software developer and was responsible for processes, infrastructure and translation memory and providing localisations for up to 30 languages. For her research, Malte is particularly interested in the interface between software development and localisation, i.e. how software development processes in conjunction with internationalisation and localisation are handled in practice. Both the available academic literature on the subject and her own work experience lead her to believe that currently, most implementations of software development and localisation processes could be improved to save development time, decrease localisation costs and avoid localisation errors. She would like to enhance her current findings by acquiring case studies of software development companies using any development methodology who either localise their products themselves or outsource localisation. If you are, or have been, involved in any projects including localisation and would be prepared to share your experiences with Malte, please do contact her. Non-disclosure of any process, production or company details will guaranteed. In return, she would offer the findings of her research and her review of your practices, which you could use to benchmark and hopefully improve your practices. Her email is malte.ressin@tvu.ac.uk


6. Survey: ICT Campaign for women
One of our members, Rahmat Balogun, is working on a new and exciting ICT community project. Their vision is to increase the representation of women in IT by sharing opportunities to improve lives and transform communities. By inspiring the next generation of young girls at schools and colleges into ICT enrichment skills at a very early stage by raising awareness. Empowering women by introducing IT skills and concepts through training. Their community project plans to build learning workshops that will facilitate for women from disadvantage and underprivileged communities who want to learn ICT and gain employment to change their circumstances. By completing their survey, your contribution will be invaluable to the progress of their project. Click here to find out more.


7. Nominations are open for the Future Leaders Award!
Sponsored by Barclays Wealth, the Women in the City Future Leaders Award recognises high-potential females in the early stages of their management career. They're seeking women who can show evidence of making a contribution beyond their functional, technical or specialist area; demonstrating commitment to personal and professional development; leadership potential; strategic networking capability and self-awareness. Nominations are sought for women whose management remit falls within either a professional role (e.g. qualified lawyer/accountant) or a support role such as marketing, HR and IT and who work in the professions in Canary Wharf, The City and the West End. The final date for nominations is the 9th April 2011 and the final date for completed applications forms is Friday 6th May 2011. Anyone can make a nomination - male or female - and if you meet the criteria, you can even nominate yourself! More information can be found here.

8. Specsavers everywoman in Retail Awards
We know there are plenty of outstanding women working in technology within the retail sector but we want to know who YOU think is the UK's hottest talent – it could be you?! For the last three years the Specsavers everywoman in Retail Awards have showcased the best of British retail brands and with a new category, Online Retailer of the Year, we’re certain that the talented women working in technology would be deserving of this accolade. So, if you’re instrumental in creating an innovative App, enhancing CRM systems or expanding a traditional retailer’s global reach through ecommerce, everywoman needs you! It's free to enter, quick and online; so go on, make 2011 a winning year and you’ll create success stories that excite the media; showcase key campaigns and initiatives to clients, stakeholders and competitors and raise your own profile and that of the business. To be in with a chance you must submit your online nomination before the 16th May 2011 deadline. Click here for more information.

9. Ada Lovelace Day: 7th October 2011
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. This year Ada Lovelace Day will be held on Friday 7th October. If you took part last year, you might remember that Ada Lovelace Day was held in March, but this year they have decided to shift it to October to give everyone a bit more time to prepare. There are more details on the website: http://findingada.com/, and on the blog: http://blog.findingada.com/ as well as on Twitter @findingada. If you'd like to find out more or support ALD2011, please contact Suw Charman-Anderson: suw.charman@gmail.com. We're hoping that Women in Technology will be involved with an event on the 7th October, so do keep that Friday evening free in your calendar and more details will be available later in the year.

10. Jobserve Live prize draw winner!
Women in Technology exhibited at the Jobserve Live! London which took place at Novotel, Hammersmith last month. Stand visitors were encouraged to fill in their contact details to join our network and were automatically entered into a prize draw. Congratulations go to Filiz Armaoglu who was one of those who filled in her details - she has won a Kodak EasyShare P725 digital photo frame and her prize will be making its way over to her shortly.