On June 13, the University will be one of 20 locations nation-wide to take part in the ‘App-a-thon’, an attempt run by BCSWomen, part of The Chartered Institute for IT. Bedfordshire’s student chapter of the BCS will lead the University’s role in breaking the record.

The venture is a novel way to encourage women and girls to consider careers in an industry which is just 16% female. That figure is made more striking by the results of a recent BCS survey of IT professionals, which found that 79% believe more women would be beneficial to the profession.

Sue Brandreth, from the University’s Department of Computer Sciences and Technology, as well as the Bedford branch of the BCS, said:

“We’re delighted to be taking part in the BCSWomen App-a-thon event because we see this as one way to demonstrate to young girls and women that IT can be a fun and interesting career.

“The event is also open to all - including older people who may never have had an opportunity to try coding.”

Younger people will also get a taste of the action (or should that be ‘apption’?), with children as young as ten allowed to take part.

Gillian Arnold, Chair of BCSWomen, said:

“Within the IT profession, there is a real skills shortage in the UK that we need to address now.

“The BCSWomen App-a-thon event is a great way for lots of people to learn how to code at the same time, engage with those who are considering a career in IT and give every generation an opportunity to try their hand at coding.”

For those not as tech-savvy as, for example, the University’s Computer Science students, the event will utilise ‘AppInventor’, a free, web-based system for creating simple apps using drag-and-drop coding techniques.

“Using a mixture of talk, activities, and hands-on coding we will help you build some simple interactive applications that you run and install on your own Android phones or tablets,” added Sue.

“You will leave the day with apps you’ve built, and the software installed on your own laptop to play around with it once you get home.”

To be a part of the record-break attempt (and also design the app of your dreams), register for the event at: www.bcs.org