Member Spotlight: Bridge The Gaps

The digital technologies created within the app economy span across nearly every industry in the global economy and transform the way society functions daily. And that is not an exaggeration – in 2019, 77 percent of the European population reported daily internet use. Fast forward to 2021, and we can safely assume this number increased with the reliance on technology to live, work, and play almost exclusively through apps and technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite our current reliance on technology, the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) found four in 10 adults working in Europe still lack basic digital skills. These deficits put ill-prepared population groups at greater socio-economic risk in the evolving digital environment and could exacerbate existing inequalities and unemployment.

In an effort to close that digital skills gap, Scilla Signa, an information technology (IT) professional and organiser of tech events and hackathons, created Bridge The Gaps, a digital skills training platform, at the beginning of 2021. Bridge The Gaps, based in Turin, Italy, is led by Scilla and consists of a team of 13 project managers, event coordinators, marketing specialists, IT coaches, and IT engineers. Together they work to make technology available and accessible for everyone.

Bridge The Gaps’ mission is about promoting diversity as a value and ensuring equal opportunities for everyone. They want to use their platform to close the gender gap in IT, facilitate integration processes of immigrants, and enhance computer literacy for all population groups that were left behind in the digital transition. Bridge The Gaps especially focuses on building these skills from a young age. With the k-ID programme they aim to educate children about the healthy and conscious use of technology.

The team believes that training, awareness, and knowledge should be accessible to every human being and that they are the path to integration, social redemption, and independence, regardless of a person’s financial resources or social background. To achieve their goal, Bridge The Gaps has developed more than a hundred technology training sessions. These trainings range from computer science basics to more specialised courses in electronics, robotics, IT, and digital graphics.

One of these training sessions, hackher_, is right around the corner on 14 October 2021. hackher_ brings women closer to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to overcome existing gaps and cultural legacies that limited women’s access to the IT world.  This hackathon provides an inclusive environment and combats gender discrimination by working towards a meritocratic society based on equality and equal opportunities. hackher_ will gather more than a hundred schoolgirls and a jury of IT experts. Additionally, a panel of female leaders in technology companies will discuss their perspectives on what needs to change to have a more gender-balanced IT workforce.

Bridge The Gaps is working to empower every individual with the skills they need to seize opportunities in today’s digital world through their continuous work and partnerships with the public and private sectors. We look forward to welcoming the next generation of app makers thanks to the hard work of member companies like Bridge The Gaps! Learn more about Bridge The Gaps and hackher_ on their website.