Date
Focus by
Sabina Berra
Entry to Cafè Rouge meetings € 3.50
02 59995206
biglietteria@teatrofrancoparenti.it
✔ June 20th at 9:00 PM
Teatro Franco Parenti – Cafè Rouge
Taking stock. Women and technology yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Talk with
Gianna Martinengo
, President of
Didael KTS
and creator of Women & Technologies.
Speakers include Nicola Palmarini, author of "Le infiltrate: Girls and technology, stereotypes and opportunities", Egea 2016, and Tamiko Thiel, digital artist
Meeting coordinated by Sabina Berra
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The spirit of the times and the discovery of contemporary femininity
'Give women adequate opportunities and they can do everything'. Oscar Wilde
"Women in code, the section within the Sguardi Altrove film festival that I curated always stems from my own desire, the one that drives me to tell the world. The one that makes me do this job, with alternating passion, but with this unique obsession. A somewhat precarious profession, that of a journalist, but one that can maintain an upright position if it accepts the challenge to continue to illuminate the shadowy areas. And even those territories that shape destinies, but are not too pursued by the spotlight. (It's one of the ways to keep it standing, certainly not the only one, but...). This is the case with 'my' Women in code, those of the 'codec', better known as binary code, those who have ventured into a predominantly male world, electronic programming - which is rapidly changing its gender characteristic - pursuing their desires and achieving great results for themselves, and for us, in the Stem field, but also in entrepreneurship and art. Few, very few in the beginning, now increasing. Starting from the codec and speeding along the trail of creativity and entrepreneurial ability, they have founded companies, and multiplied start-ups, invest and conduct research, teach and promote. In short, they leave traces in the present that are already the future. Also of social change: when no woman will have problems in pursuing the job she desires due to gender issues, perhaps the world will have truly changed. Meanwhile, I start giving them a voice. They will not only do it in this edition of the festival, and they have certainly made themselves known before, but I strongly wanted to tell their courage, determination, and passion. And even a bit of coldness - a trait usually attributed to men. And take stock of the situation with some of them. How did they do it? How are they now compared to 20 years ago?
How do they intend to proceed? What research are they conducting? I tried to understand this by traveling from Silicon Valley to hyper-technological India, making a stop in Europe. And several in Italy.
Along the way, I had excellent encounters. One crucial one was with Gladys West, an African American lady, who was included by the BBC in the list of the 100 women of 2018 last year!
Gladys West, a mathematician, is one of the people whose work was crucial in the development of GPS. In 1956, she began working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren. Here, she processed satellite data, using it to determine their exact position. In 1979, she became one of the programmers at the Dahlgren division for large-scale computers and project manager for data processing systems used for satellite data analysis. In 1986, West published Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter, an illustrated 60-page guide. But when Mrs. West started her career at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in the American state of Virginia in 1956, she was just another African American woman
along with two men like her who worked (one would become her husband). But she was very clear: "I struggled to be tough and to resist as best I could. I carried this load, thinking I had to be the best I could be. Always do things the right way, set an example for others coming after me, especially women."
