Achia Nila, Founder of Women in Digital with ICT Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak
Honing women’s creativity and expertise in the technology sector, Achia Nila, founder of Women in Digital held The National Hackathon 2017, empowering women through this one of a kind event.
Going back to the start, Achia Nila founded Women in Digital (WID) at 2013 and few months later launched Women in Digital Bangladesh (WIDBD). WID is the organisation empowering women in business and technology to achieve their unimagined possibilities. “WID works to increase the number of women in technology and computing. This gives women the platform to improve the design of products and services to better serve a more diverse population, and increase economic and social well-being by providing more women with stable and lucrative careers,” shares Nila.
This new initiative aimed to facilitate female creativity and engage them digitally so they could raise their profile, reach their desired audiences and showcase their work. “With a strong network of contacts in all of the creative sectors and a reputation for building relationships and forging great partnerships, our team will capitalize on the skills available among scores of talented women and organizations to act on what women want and need,” Nila says.
“We are living in a new economy—powered by technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge and we are entering the new century with many opportunities. Our nation is enjoying high rates of productivity growth, due to technological innovation. As that trend continues, it will lead to higher incomes and improved standards of living helping more women meet the need for economic security”
With a network of talented women, WID has powerful programs and partnerships that provide connections, resources, opportunities and a supportive environment of women committed to helping each other. WID delivers value for individuals that work for any organisation, the government or academia, as well as business owners.
“WIDBD’s vision is to successfully cultivate mutually beneficial networks between industry, academia and government with a focus on women working in the technology industries across the country and the world,” comments Nila.
The National Hackathon 2017 had been a one of a kind opportunity for women passionate about ICT. Designing solutions and building prototypes in a strict timeline takes more than just dedication. Hackathons require you to vet a group of people you may or may not know, determine fairly quickly what their strengths and weaknesses are, and find out how best to utilize them. “In reality, you actually don’t have the luxury of time to wait for someone to pull their weight and get things done. In start-ups, such a disposition can ruin a company.” Nila says as busy and chaotic the world can get, the practice of nurturing both quality and time management, simultaneously should be made as perfect as possible.
“Working under strict deadlines with a team will turn your friends and acquaintances into your comrades in arms. The more comrades you have, the more value it will add to your professional strengths,” she says.
At the National Women Hackathon 2017 there were a number of industrial and technical expertise as mentors and judges. Throughout the Hackathon, they did their best to assist and guide the participants to understand what the final outcome of their idea should be and how this can be achieved by them. “The contest had different parts- all allotted to different timelines. All participants were working in the same place and had to frequently defend their ideas when being questioned by judges. Hence, after each evaluation, one team was able to compare their state with an opponent team.
The whole arrangement thus helped the teams to identity their strengths and weakness in practice. This Hackathon has really added value to almost all team.”
Women in the digital industry are a small yet steadily growing industry. Nila believes that digital trends are ever changing and it’s imperative that Bangladesh take on this wave in their stride. “We are living in a new economy—powered by technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge and we are entering the new century with many opportunities. Our nation is enjoying high rates of productivity growth, due to technological innovation. As that trend continues, it will lead to higher incomes and improved standards of living helping more women meet the need for economic security,” she comments. Nila believes that all the sectors can be merged- like a multidisciplinary contribution- through proper use of technology. She concludes by saying that whatever the arena of work may be, technology orientation is a must for keeping pace with the bustling
world industry.