Innovative ideas on show at the GDST Digital Leaders’ Conference

South Hampstead High School in London was the venue for the second GDST Digital Leaders’ Conference on 26 January.

The event, attended by nearly 200 girls aged 10-18, involved teams competing to devise a campaign to encourage more women to pursue careers in technology. This could be an event, a website, a competition or a new product for which they devised a marketing strategy including a video and website to showcase its viability.

The guest speaker at the event was Emma Mulqueeny, CEO of Elbi Digital, founder of Rewired and Young Rewired State and a member of the Government’s Commission on Digital Democracy.

She said: “Women are still massively under-represented in the technology sector but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Events like the GDST’s Digital Leaders’ Conference encourage girls to think about the opportunities and challenges they will face when they enter the job market. These students are the trailblazers of the future and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

Putney High School were the overall winners with an idea based around a social media campaign, entitled #thisgirlcodes, designed to encourage girls to share their code online.