WACREN is seeking collaborators from the NREN community for the implementation of its Women-in-WACREN program.
The initiative has developed a community of women in African NRENs promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curricula and showcasing the opportunities with diversity and inclusion.
Following the successful outcomes of online courses and hackathons in previous years, the program has been in the AfricaConnect3 project to accommodate more participants across Africa.
The desired outcomes in this new phase include:
- Expansion of the existing “Physical Computing with Python” course and hackathon to include modules on Data Science and Robotics.
- Establishment of a cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) platform hosted on REN infrastructure in REN for collection and analysis of data.
- Strategic partnerships with organisations committed to addressing the underrepresentation of women in STEM.
- Initiating a version in French of the various courses and activities
The implementation will involve moderating the community mailing list, staging the online courses and hackathon and engaging other women to advance the goals of the program.
The program is run on an annual basis, and the activity for 2020 is expected to be held from October to December.
While this is a call for volunteering, WACREN is willing to provide token payments to cover some of the volunteer’s expenses.
NRENs, organisations and individuals interested in collaborating with WACREN to fulfil this role should please send e-mail to secretariat@wacren.net with a brief description of their interest, ideas and any requirements by 25 September 2020.
