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Hong Kong’s first Technovation sees girls’ enthusiasm for IT 

 

Cyberport empowered young girls aged between 10-18 by showcasing their apps in Hong Kong at a Final Pitch on 7 May for their participation in Technovation, the world’s longest running girls-only technology and entrepreneur competition.

 

In showing their tech-savviness, the girls demonstrated their apps and pitched their solutions to a panel of judges including Ms. Christina Tang, Founder of Cyberport incubatee Blue Sky Energy Technology.  The top team will represent Hong Kong at the Technovation World Pitch Summit in San Francisco this August. 

 

“We were delighted to participate in Technovation.  It was a great opportunity to mentor the next generation of female tech entrepreneurs and encourage girls to develop greater interest in IT at school, university and in life,” explained Ms. Tang.

 

First created by San Francisco based charity Iridescent, Technovation aimed to bridge the gender talent pipeline gap in Silicon Valley companies by fostering app development and entrepreneurship in girls in a bid to heighten their interest in computer science.   Young Makers & ChangeMaker introduced Technovation to Hong Kong, and co-organised the Final Pitch with Cyberport to augment online curriculum with an innovative multi-sectoral approach to STE(A)M education. 

 

The three-month pilot Technovation scheme in Hong Kong enabled participants to attend workshops and corporate visits.  They learned about the cycle of app creation from ideation, prototyping and business model development to using MIT Applnventor to program Android apps.

 

Technology skills aside, the girls gained a greater understanding, from charities and social enterprises, of the most pertinent community issues at stake.  They also listened to the views of inspiring female entrepreneurs at a BootCamp hosted with the University of Hong Kong.

 

“This is truly an innovative and meaningful platform for promoting entrepreneurship technology and social consciousness.  The mission of the event directly supports that of our own: encouraging young people including girls to be interested in ICT and digital technology and to ultimately become a future digital entrepreneur,” said Maria Lam, Chief Corporate Development Officer of Cyberport.