Time has gone since Open World Forum 2010, Paris, but this topic is on stage again. A recent paper appeared in Cepis Upgrade October 2010 issue, entitled “Information Technologies: A Profession for Men?” says: “women are currently under-represented in the technical areas of the IT”. Nothwithstanding they also say: “there is no reason why a profession should have to be balanced in gender terms”, their effort is in “provide the solutions, if any exists, to prevent female talent from being lost to a discipline and a profession which is destined to play a vital role in the progress of our society”.… Read the rest
Education to foster the Open Source adoption
Time ago, I wrote something about the need for education in Computer Science and Free Open Source Software in this blog.
Now, I’m going to chair a panel about this topic at fOSSa 2010, at the end of an interesting education track open by a lightning talk by Roberto Di Cosmo.
In particular, the education track will deal with the role of academia in education, focusing on three main aspects: education of the teachers, education of all the university students, specific education of IT students teaching how to work in an environment that is more and more dominated by Free Open Source Software.… Read the rest
Gender diversity: why women matter in FLOSS
The agenda of the upcoming Open World Forum, Paris includes a Diversity Summit: Why women matter? The assumption is that “FLOSS still faces gender inequality, to an even greater extent than the wider IT industry which itself is seen as an area where discrimination is widespread.”
About the same topic, Free Software Foundation hosts a caucus about Women in Free Software; they recently published their initial findings and recommendations.
In 2007, Gartner released a research on the wider general topic “Women and men in IT: breaking through sexual stereotypes”, and hosted a debate in a Gartner summit.… Read the rest
The need for education in Computer Science and Free Open Source Software
Investing money in training and research activities is generally considered crucial in this period of crisis and incertitude. The role of training on Information Technology issues since primary education, plays a central role, as it is an important element of the knowledge society as well as the starting point of the new outcomes like “internet of the future”. This is essential to build a liveable future, avoiding plugging the current crisis with old methods, established by a ruling class which hasn’t gone with the times, conforming our political and economic models to the current situation.… Read the rest