The Impactory

On November 30th, Luxembourg will host its second coding class for women.
 Organized within the context of EU Code Week, it will offer women the opportunity to learn about web development such as HTML, CSS, and PHP. This initiative aims to remove the myths around coding and encourage women to be more than consumers of IT.

A successful start, women coding hard

This month 12 women from different backgrounds attended the first series of lessons over four evenings at the Impactory, a coworking place for entrepreneurs and changemakers at the heart of Luxembourg City. The teachers introduced them to HTML and CSS, which are the basics of any website.

The next session will be a workshop on web development organized as part of EU CodeWeek on November 30th. The workshop is taught and organized by volunteers. Participants will have the chance to learn the basics of programming with PHP and how to make a small web app that will enable data storage and retrieval.

Geeks rule the world but where are the women?

Coding is the new universal language today. Contrary to common belief, it does not take a computer science degree to program a website. Coding is also fun. Today, the ICT sector is creating job opportunities like no other industry and there will soon be a shortage of skilled workers. Women are also needed in the game!

According to the EU only 30% of the 7 million people working in the information and communication (ICT) sector are women. “My motto, my dream, my bumper sticker is to get every European digital and my ambition is to get more women into ICT,” says Neelie Kroes, Vice President of The European Commission.

EU Code Week Initiative in Luxembourg

The European Commission and local volunteer initiatives are coming together to organize events encouraging more people to take part in ICT and engage in coding. From November 25 to 30 this year, Europe Code Week and smaller­scale projects will promote coding thanks to numerous local events.

In Luxembourg, Marina Thiriet, Community & Project Manager at The Impactory and organiser of the first coding classes for women, was asked by Neelie Kroes’ young advisors to be Ambassador for the Grand Duchy.

Coding? Yes, we can!

The event is organized by volunteers eager to improve the place of women in technology and encourage them to take part in ICT and engage in coding.
”I often met women that either wanted to start a business or were managing developers but were lacking technical expertise,” explains Marina Thiriet. “Our initiative will grow to include networking events for women in the ICT sector if we find enough support and sponsors. The whole point is to help women feel more confident with ICT.”

Any questions regarding this initiative, please contact Marina marina@theimpactory.com