MEDIA RELEASE

Connecting Women to Technology

Released 8 November 2007

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

Information and Cultural Exchange’s (ICE) Community Information Technology Program recently showcased the achievements of its grass-roots Connect OUT project at Granville Youth and Community Recreation Centre on 7 November.

Twenty women from across Parramatta and Holroyd areas participated in Connect OUT, most of whom were first-time computer users. “I learned how to open a laptop, how to plug it in, how to write, how to save, how to do everything!” said local Naraini Reddy.

Connect OUT, a pilot project supported by Holroyd Community Development Support Expenditure (CDSE) Scheme and Parramatta Leagues Club, took technology and hands-on skills workshops out to isolated groups in Holroyd and Parramatta – particularly to women who have only arrived in Australia recently.

“Many women, particularly stay-at-home mothers, grandparents, carers of children, and women with limited English language skills, find it difficult to access computer training. So we used our mobile IT kits to take the training to them,” said ICE Director Lena Nahlous.

Women used the laptops to learn basic computer programs, as well as to create digital stories that expressed their experiences of settlement in Australia.

Connect OUT developed from the successful 2007 Women Work Together project, a partnership between The Parramatta College and ICE to deliver IT, employment and training skills.

ICE’s Community Information Technology Program receives core support from the NSW Department of Community Services.