In partnership with Venture Café Foundation, the manager of the Roxbury Innovation Center, Microsoft New England will host a series of workshops for students and educators. Microsoft New England is thrilled to be a part of this endeavor, as we believe that community engagement is paramount to promoting a successful civic tech ecosystem.
Success in this field is a measure of civic engagement, and citizens are most engaged when they are using all of the technological options to their benefit. For example, in our “ideal civic ecosystem” local business would employ “smart business practices” by analyzing the data they collect from customers, schools would harness the power of the Internet to provide a more enriching environment for scholars and students would have a strong computer science education. However, the creation of this environment requires a meticulous plan of action to empower all community members to harness the possibilities of current technology.
Through community conversations, we have held discussions about topics such as the importance of entrepreneurship, jumpstarting innovation and supporting a benevolent “start-up” culture. We see our co-sponsored workshops as a way to fulfill the ideas about which we write: Microsoft will specifically offer sessions geared towards (1) students, (2) administrators and (3) small business owners.
- For students, Microsoft seeks to engage with aspiring coders and provide them with the tools and skillset to become adept at software development
- For administrators, Microsoft hopes to offer innovative ways to promote technological solutions within the classroom
- For small business owners, Microsoft aspires to create efficient business practices through new software and technological trends
Logistically, there will be a multitude of workshops ranging from topics such as “Website Deign” to “Fundamentals of Excel”. The workshops begin the last week of September and continue throughout the middle of December. To register for a workshop please follow the link: http://roxburyinnovationcenter.org/learn-lab-workshops/. For any specific questions, please reach out to [email protected].
The Roxbury Innovation Center is positioned to become a key “hub” for collective community entrepreneurship and Microsoft New England is passionate about promoting this vision.