Is technology taking our jobs?
That鈥檚 the first question open to debate for the newly rebooted B.C. chapter of Women in Communications and Technology.
Four women 鈥� Christin Wiedemann of PQA Testing, Kathy Gibson of Catchy Consulting, Laura Sukorokoff of Hyperwallet and Sally Whitehead of Sophos 鈥� will tackle the issue on March 6.
The debate will be conducted in the 鈥淥xford style鈥� popularized by the Intelligence Squared podcast.
鈥淎utomation, driven by technological progress, has been expanding for the past several decades,鈥� writes , the 麻豆传媒映画blogger behind Miss604. She is also on the WCTBC's board of directors.聽 鈥淎s the pace of development increases, so has the urgency in the debate about the potential effects of automation on jobs, employment and human activity. Will new technology spawn mass unemployment, as the robots take jobs away from humans? Or is this part of a cycle that predates even the Industrial Revolution in which some jobs will become obsolete, while new jobs will be created?鈥�
Wiedemann is also co-chair of the local WCT chapter.
鈥淓mpowering and promoting women in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] is my 鈥榩assion work鈥�, and to me it is important to engage with other women in Vancouver鈥檚 tech industry in ways that are meaningful, rewarding and fun,鈥� she told Bollwitt of why she got involved with the effort to reboot the group.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a place where meaningful conversations and relationships happen, particularly surrounding how we can give more voice to and opportunities for women in leadership positions,鈥� says fellow co-chair Briana Sim of Radical I/O in Bollwitt's post.
The debate starts at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 6 at BLG, 200 Burrard St., 1200 Waterfront Centre. are $25 for WCT members and $35 for non-members.
