There was cause for celebration in Dublin 8 today as the first 13 graduates from The Digital Hub’s Techmums programme were awarded certificates for over-coming their fear of tech and changing their life for the better.
The Techmums programme has already proven incredibly successful at encouraging mothers to gain confidence in using technology to help them achieve whatever they want, thanks to the help of its founder Dr Sue Black, who was a well-received speaker at last June’s Inspirefest.
Launched just last month, the six-week programme saw various mums from the Dublin 8 area getting to grips with new skills and the knowledge to ensure they make the most of what the internet has to offer.
Over the period, the mums were taught subjects including social media skills, the importance of online security, how to navigate Google Cloud and Google Drive, and given introductions to app and web design.
‘Techmums rock!’
Yvonne Kealy was one of the 13 mums who successfully completed the programme, and she said: “Techmums has been a fantastic learning experience for me, and is a great course for mothers to get to grips with the digital world.
“In this day and age, courses like Techmums should almost be compulsory for parents and guardians. It has awakened a huge interest among the mothers involved in the digital world, and we would love to see a follow-up course so we can broaden our digital knowledge even further.”
Dr Black is certainly riding high following the release of her book, Saving Bletchley Park, prior to Christmas and, speaking at the graduation ceremony today, she said: “I’m so delighted to be working with The Digital Hub to bring Techmums to Dublin. Techmums gives mums the opportunity to find out more about the amazing opportunities that technology offers, along with hands-on, practical tech skills.
“Mums can then use this knowledge to help start up a business, get a better job, understand what their children are doing online, and so much more. Techmums rock!”
Women Invent is Silicon Republic’s campaign to champion the role of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. It has been running since March 2013, and is kindly supported by Intel, Open Eir (formerly Eircom Wholesale), Fidelity Investments, Accenture and CoderDojo.