The Icelandic Computer Society (Ský) has become the first CEPIS member society to be awarded the Gold status of the CEPIS DiversIT Charter. The Gold status reflects the organisation’s leading work in encouraging girls and young women to pursue IT studies and advancing gender equality in ICT professions. As a CEPIS member with Gold status, Ský will now have the right to award the Charter to companies and organisations in Iceland.
Arnheiður Guðmundsdóttir, the Managing Director of Ský, said: “We in Skyrsluteaknifelag Islands (The Icelandic Computer Society) are very proud to be the first to achieve DiversIT GOLD Award status. That is a great recognition of the work of our society which aims to have diversity as our guiding light. We cannot wait to see the tech companies in Iceland apply for the Charter and we will do our best to help them be more diverse and see more women and young people in the Icelandic tech industry in the future.”
Ský focuses on organising events, most notably UTmessan, which is one of the largest IT events in Iceland. UTmessan’s mission is to highlight the importance of information technology and its effects on individuals, businesses and Icelandic society alike. In UTmessan and all other events, Ský pays particular attention to gender balance both for speakers and attendees. As a result of Ský’s activities, the number of women graduating from computer science degrees has increased to over 30% in the last 2-3 years, from none in 1980s.
Ský is involved with many national and international initiatives, such as the BEBRAS competition, Ada Lovelace Awards, and many more.
Ský is a non-profit society that was founded in 1968, a few years after the first computer came to Iceland. The society counts approximately 50% of everyone working in ICT related jobs in Iceland as a part of their network. They have been a member of CEPIS for many years, and have been actively involved with CEPIS Women in ICT expert group since 2012.
