TechGirl Festival comes to Cambridge

The Festival brings together ambitious young women, aged 16 and over and all involved in some segment of education – school, college or university – with senior technology leaders.

The brains trust is designed to share ambitions and experiences and produce real world work experience for the young women involved who are keen to pursue careers in technology.

Previously, HotTopics' CEO and Founder Philip Randerson, Editor Peter Stojanovic, and a select number of TechGirls, were asked to 10 Downing Street to meet its AI incubator team and swap notes on future design, skills and innovation.

Tech execs are invited to become mentors for the Cambridge initiative by delivering practical as well as intellectual guidance to participants over the course of a year. The goal of the Festival is to produce solutions, products or experiences that can be developed with Cambridge United FC to support its ambition to become a modern, digitised club for its fans and wider community.

Organisers are inviting individuals — C-suite leaders of recognised organisations — to mentor a team and provide practical advice throughout the day. Cambridge United FC are providing a judging panel to choose the best ideas produced on the day and help continue to develop them.

As well as meeting next generation talent and business builders, guiding lights can share their war stories – successful or otherwise – with attendees and spread experiences for the greater good.

The Festival is the long-term brainwave of HotTopics which has assembled a global community of 19,000-plus senior executives who come together at bespoke events to share inspiration, solve problems, and tap into a supportive network.

Editor Peter Stojanovic says: “We don't just talk about the future of technology: together with our communities we are actively building it. Cambridge has a wealth of talent and global business prowess, so as well as supporting a Football Club that has made strides supporting women’s football, it also makes sense for HotTopics to bring our award-winning events to this technology hub.

“We also host C-suite events and other initiatives across the UK, US and across Europe; we believe that TechGirls will really capture the imaginations of our international audience.

“We will introduce some wonderful mentors in the afternoon session of the Cambridge event and are extremely hopeful that the day in general will produce some fresh tech ideas that can be successfully commercialised – not just for Cambridge United but hopefully for a broader market in the long term – and knit together different generations of current and future leaders."

To get involved with the Festival as a TechGirl or Mentor visit https://hottopics.ht/techgirl