Meet the Embers

Kickstarting Event Activity in Rural & Underserved Scottish Communities

We are delighted to announce the 7 Ember organisations we're partnering with as part of our Tech Embers project in connection with The Scottish Government Ecosystem Fund and the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER).

So without further ado, let's take a look a who we'll be working with over the next few months to improve tech access in rural and underserved Scottish communities.

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1. The VR Hive

Highlands & Islands Tour

We're working with Anne Widdop and her team at The VR Hive to deliver a series of 4 workshop sessions with school children across the Highlands & Islands. The goal is to provide immersive digital experiences that inspire the next generation of tech innovators and get them excited about the potential of virtual reality.

Following the successful completion of the first event at Kinlochleven High School on 4th March 2022 to a group of 50 kids, next stops includes a trip across to Skye and a session a number of schools across the Highlands.

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2. RookieOven

Oban

Following the resurgence of RookieOven's tech meet-up in Glasgow, Michael Hayes and his team are hitting the road with a series of 4 monthly meet-ups in Oban.

RookieOven is partnering with Daniel MacIntyre from The View to deliver a tech-centric event that also shows an appreciation for the Scottish arts. As well as providing better connectivity to Scotland's wider tech ecosystem, we also want to identify and celebrate members of the tech community who are passionate about the arts.

From local folk bands to amateur theatre clubs, we believe tech and arts should exist in harmony.

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3. Founders' Folly

Oban

After engaging with a number of rural tech groups across Scotland, the idea of stakeholders in large cities making decisions on behalf of rural  communities is a repeated friction point.

Founders' Folly will operate in tandem with the RookieOven Oban events to provide an opportunity for Glasgow-based tech founders to discuss ways to improve integration with rural neighbours.

Instead of having these conversations in city boardrooms, Michael Hayes will invite 3-4 founders to meet with tech change-makers in Oban, learn about their challenges, and join forces to build a more connected tech ecosystem.

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4. Silicon Croft

Outer Hebrides

We're working with Maria Bell from the Shetland Islands to facilitate the delivery of 8 in-person events across 8 schools in the Outer Hebrides.

Following the successful launch of Maria's Silicon Croft initiative in the Shetland Islands which provides Scratch programming training to school teachers, we're helping Maria to retrofit her existing curriculum and share her amazing work with schools in the Outer Hebrides.

Principally, the initial 8 events will involve engaging with local education authorities and a network of schools to lay the foundations for a future-proofed curriculum that Maria can manage both remotely from The Shetlands and in collaboration with local change-makers.

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5. Tech Talks

Orkney International Science Festival

We're delighted to announce our partnership with Howie Firth from the Orkney International Science Festival (OISF) to deliver a fortnightly series of 6 virtual events that provide the people of Orkney (and beyond) with inspirational talks from pioneers in the tech world.

Not only will this provide Orkney with better connectivity to Scotland's wider tech ecosystem, but it will also offer OISF an invaluable opportunity to experiment with more interactive and immersive virtual education experiences.

Owing to the geographical challenges of accessing Orkney, we hope that this event series will encourage tech enthusiasts from across the globe to tune into virtual elements of the Science Festival that will take place in September 2022.

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6. Traveltech Collectives

Angus Tourism Cooperative & Fairbnb

We've partnered with Joshua Ryan-Saha from Traveltech for Scotland (Part of Edinburgh Futures Institute) to host two Traveltech Collective workshops.

The first workshop with Angus Tourism Cooperative will explore their development as a ‘Traveltech Collective.’ This will include visitor management technologies in Lunan Bay, technologies to help businesses operate when experiencing staff shortages, and technologies to increase revenues from visitor attractions.

The second workshop will unite self-catering accommodation providers to introduce the cooperative platform Fairbnb (and other ‘direct booking’ technology platforms) to enable more of their income to circulate within local communities.

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7. STEM Leaders Meet-up

Empowering Tech Educators

We're delighted to announce our partnership with Tanya Howden and Dr Kelly Gardner from STEM Leaders Meet-ups to deliver a 3-part online event series that aims to empower education leaders who are working to improve access to tech in underserved Scottish communities.

The first event will focus on gender equality in STEM and provide attendees with practical tips on how to improve gender equality in the classroom and how to develop gender-inclusive teaching programmes.

The second event will focus on neurodiversity in STEM to explore how educators can accommodate for conditions like ADHD, Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Tourette's.

The third event will focus on child safeguarding and provide attendees with practical tips on how to comply with the legal requirements and social responsibilities of working with children.

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Join the Movement

If you're passionate about improving access to technology in rural and underserved areas of Scotland, join us on the Tech Embers Cluster on Community Lab.