Every year, the International Day of Ada Lovelace is celebrated the second Tuesday of October, a day dedicated to commemorating the contributions and achievements made by women in the fields of technology, science, engineering, and mathematics. Ada Lovelace was a pioneer in computer science, a young woman dedicated to her studies, with a scientific background driven by her mother. This led her to explore the latest computing developments of her time (the early to mid-1800s) and revolutionize it. Not only did she apply what thus far was a mathematical theory in solving a particular problem, but she opened the door to understanding that computers could be used beyond numbers, eventually becoming the tools they are today. Ada Lovelace is considered the first computer programmer in history, the person who “invented” programming.
Ada Lovelace Day has a special importance, not only as part of commemorating women’s contributions throughout history and their work in advancing science, but the fact that women always have played a role in the field of technology. Ada Lovelace also serves as an inspiration to new generations of female students, encouraging them to break stereotypes and to dabble in the industry that today, with tools such as artificial intelligence, is accelerating the development of all fields of human endeavors.
Technology drives creation, and women are part of it
The lack of representation and visibility of positive and successful models directly influences the perception of women to venture into areas of science and technology, and that is why the initiative to remember and commemorate leading figures such as Ada Lovelace is fundamental to inspire new generations of women.
While there is currently a significant gap in women’s participation in various areas of science (as we already have commented in previous posts), there are more and more opportunities for girls and young women students in Latin America to develop knowledge and career-ready skills.
Students challenged to build an Oracle APEX application on Ada Lovelace Day
Driving the space for learning, creating, and developing knowledge is crucial to strengthening the skills of students and thus reduce the gap of women working in technology. That’s why Oracle Academy in Mexico celebrated Ada Lovelace Day with an application programming challenge run in Oracle APEX. This challenge, which was designed by Jose Orozco, Jacqueline Rendon, and Izumy Romero, aimed to empower students to explore, learn, and develop an application in the APEX environment on Oracle Autonomous Database using Oracle Cloud.
A total of 40 students along with 20 teachers formed teams from nine universities throughout Mexico, to develop 21 projects and propose solutions to needs in their communities, institutions, or the country. During five sessions, the students developed their proposals, accompanied by their teachers and Oracle experts, and presented the solution on October 10, Ada Lovelace Day.
Participating students stood out for combining a diversity of career knowledge in industrial engineering, information technology and digital business, mechatronics, biotechnology, computational systems, software development, artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Each of the submitted projects were applications developed from various topics ranging from student performance control, access to libraries, purchase or sales analysis, mental health, environmental pollution, registration of medical appointments, prediction of heart disease, financial education, prevention of violence against women, literacy and project management. And each demonstrated dedication and best practices of knowledge and technology to create solutions.
We congratulate the participating universities for the effort to promote the creation of knowledge in conjunction with Oracle Academy: Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro; Universidad Politécnica de la Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara; Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl; UNITEC Campus Los Reyes; Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Atlixco; Universidad Abierta and Distance from Mexico; Universidad Politécnica de Gómez Palacio; Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana de Aguascalientes; and Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
This example confirms that Oracle, through programs such as Oracle Academy, is committed to education and skills development in technology, enabling more girls, young people, and women to innovate and develop technology knowledge and skills, strengthening the technology ecosystem with more talent and increased access opportunities for everyone.
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