What is Technovation •Global challenge to inspire High School and Middle School girls to pursue technology courses
and careers
•In 12 weeks teams of 5 young women identify a problem, create an app to solve it, code the app,
build a company, launch the app and pitch the plan to experts
•Teaches a computer science and entrepreneurship curriculum
•The teams learn algorithmic thinking and programming, societal impact of information and
information technology, how to pitch and enroll others in ideas
•Fun and inspirational
Why Technovation •Enrollment rates in Technology programs at universities in Canada are dropping from current
levels where women make up:
o 23% of engineering grads
o 30% of computer science
•Only 23% of women with top math and science scores in high school choose these fields, versus
45% of men
•Women hold less than 25% of the STEM jobs, even lower in technical tracks in technology
companies
•Companies with higher ratios of women are in aggregate more successful than those with lower
ratios
•We need to draw on the best minds within the whole population to maximize innovation and
growth
Global Reach
Previous Winners
Arriveapp.mobi Attendance check-in system for
schools, parents and students
Moldova
New York
Moldova
Health in a Drop Solution for finding clean water in an
area where almost 80% of the
population lacks access to drinkable
water.
.
362 Apps Created in 2014
Going in the right direction
70% of alumnae took further
Computer Science
courses after
Technovation, when
offered the opportunity
(70% of alumnae said they
would)
44% of college-age alumnae
who have selected a
major chose Computer
Science so far
[I learned] how to make
apps, that not all
computer people are
geeks, [and that] you
can have fun while
doing something to
further your education.”
Technovation in Ottawa •6 participating high schools / 10 teams
o Colonel By
o South Carleton
o Merivale
o Sir Wilfred Laurier
o Longfields Davidson Heights
o Ridgemont
•2 corporate sponsors
o IBM
o Shopify
•1 university sponsor
o Carleton
Program Details •Key dates: program start Jan 12, final registration by Feb 2, submissions due by April 16th
•Ottawa will kick off in mid-January, regular sessions will be once a week Feb to April, excluding
March break
•Sessions will be held at IBM and Shopify – transport considerations will influence final plan
•12 week curriculum from January to April – curriculum is online and flexible
Lesson 1: Basics of App Inventor
Lesson 2: Brainstorming
Lesson 3: Market Research
Lesson 4: User-Centered Design
Lesson 5: Incorporating Feedback
Lesson 6: Entrepreneurship
Lesson 7: Business Plan
Lesson 8: Career Explorations
Lesson 9: Creating Engaging PowerPoints
Lesson 10: Project Submission Guidelines
Lesson 11: Effective Presentations
Lesson 12: Pitch Coaching, Wrap-up, and Survey
Mentor/Coach Role •Mentors will be assigned to teams in January – Ideally 2 per team depending on availability
o Full session is a 40-50 hour commitment
•Mentor role:
o Provide leadership
o Manage team dynamics
o Provide 1-1 interaction with team members
o Share your skills and experiences
o Be a role model
o Encourage and Inspire
•Coach role:
o Help teach the curriculum
o Technical help and assistance
o May help across multiple teams
•Course materials are all available on line, so coaches and mentors are supporting not developing
the curriculum
•The contest requires development, marketing, business skills – you can each bring different skills
and expertise to the teams
Final Deliverable •The Technovation Challenge submission consists of:
o App source code (can be developed in Android, iOS, or Windows)
o Up to 4minute video pitch (upload to YouTube or Vimeo and share the link)
o Up to 2minute app demo video (upload to YouTube or Vimeo and share the link)
o Business plan (pdf)
o Team photo (with mentor and teacher included, if possible) for each team
o 100word app description
o Completion of postsurvey
o Presentation (post on Slideshare and share link)
•Ottawa regional contest to determine winning local entry late April or early May
o Top 10 teams globally go to California for World Pitch and chance to win 10,000
This year 1,500 girls from around the world created 362
mobile phone apps in attempts to solve a problem in
their community!
By using the mobile technology this early in their
formative years there is a greater chance that these
girls will continue to engage with technology shape the
world.
And that Fatima, Nathalia, Kate, Huma, etc. will be the
worlds’ next Steve, Mark, Larry , Sergey.
Getting girls to plug in, one app at a time