Events: Women in Tech Cape Town Meet-Up

Published April 1, 2016

Last month for International Women’s Day, I introduced you to the founder of Geek Girls Dinners . This week I am continuing my feminist agenda by introducing you to another homegrown initiative. Women in Tech CPT is a new group who will be having their first ever event this Wednesday at Truth Coffee. I sat down the founder, Robyn Farah, to find out more about why she started this group and why she thinks girls need events like this.

GN: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. What inspired you to start a career in tech?

RF: I don’t know, it’s just always been something that I am really passionate about.

GN: How are you involved in the industry?

RF: I run two communities Arduino Cape Town and Modern Alchemists , I am a partner in Curiosity Campus , which teaches people all sorts of tech skills from Python, building and coding your own robot, creating VR environments. My main project is that I run KAT-O which builds prototypes for clients, we also run monthly talks around tech and innovation called #TechTalkCPT .

GN: Why did you start the event and how long has Women in Tech CPT been running?

RF: The event this Wednesday will be the first one. I attend tech events in Cape Town and know a lot of women in the tech industry, but I don’t know why they aren’t attending these events. So that’s why I wanted to get them together to show off what they are doing.

I also wanted to create a place for girls that are interested in the tech industry on any level.

GN: Are there chapters running in other parts of South Africa?

RF: For now it is just Cape Town, but I am hoping to start one in Johannesburg soon.

GN: Can anyone attend the event and how would they go about getting tickets?

RF: Yes, the event is open to anyone. You can pre-book tickets on Quicket and the event is free. Guests can donate money if they like, but it is not required.

GN: How did you choose the speakers for your first event?

RF: All the speakers are people that I know in the industry. The main speaker, Maximillian Kaizen, is just amazing and has been involved in the tech industry at a very different level to me. I’ve also asked several other people who have started great tech initiatives to stand up quickly, introduce themselves and tell the group what they are doing. I also have a guy coming along who runs a girls hiking group and even though it has nothing to do with tech, I wanted him to bring the girls along to show them what’s going on in tech.

GN: In America, a lot of women and minorities tend to stay away from table top meetups and comic book stores because of the extreme sexism that comes along with it. Do you feel that we have a similar problem in South Africa?

RF: If people are being bashed at events and don’t feel confident enough to attend these events, we need to bring them up so that they can say “I feel comfortable with who I am”. That is what I am trying to do. I want to develop a space where this can happen.

I don’t want this event to be about how men bring women down. It should be about us uplifting ourselves.

If you are interested in attending, the next event is this Wednesday, 13th of April. The main speaker will be Maximillian Kaizen with guests Code for Cape Town , codeX , Monde Sitole, Jepchumba II , Jennifer Cohen, Mitso Qalaba.

Contact Robyn at robynfarah@kat-o.net if you would like to sponsor the next event or want to know more about how you can apart of this great initiative.

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