Pacific Connect returns to Brisbane!

After the successful Dialogue on Pacific Women in Business and Digital Delivery held in February, Pacific Connect returns to Brisbane to discuss the role of women entrepreneurs as technology influencers.

Held from 16-19 June at the Premiers Hall, Parliament House of Queensland, 30 current and emerging leaders from across Australia and the Pacific will come together to engage in discussions, presentations, networking events and extra-curricular activities which will focus on creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs using technology in the region. The Dialogue will be facilitated by Catherine Fritz-Kalish, Director of ICDP and Co-founder and Managing Director of Global Access Partners, Zha Agabe-Granfar, Founder & Executive Director of VERGE, and Michael Collins, Partner at Strategic Development Group.

The programme will feature presentations from leading Australian female entrepreneurs who are heavily engaged with technology. Participants will hear from Anna Wright, Founder of BindiMaps, an innovative mobile app that improves navigation of internal spaces, especially for those with vision impairment. Also presenting at the Pacific Women Entrepreneurs Dialogue is Julie Gibson, CEO and Co-founder of Hitnet. With more than half the world’s population being digitally excluded, Hitnet engages digitally isolated people to connect to online services and information through community hubs and WiFi.

The facilitators will guide participants through group workshops and planning sessions, with the long-term aim of bringing the successful concepts to fruition through intensive collaboration and refinement. Participants will have the opportunity to ‘pitch’ their ideas (think Shark-tank) to enable further enhancement and support for their projects.

The networking dinner, a popular event at Pacific Connect Dialogues, will bring together Pacific Connect Community members (alumni) and emerging leaders to further develop connections and personal links. Kalo Fainu, Founder and Director of the Pasifika Film Fest, will be a guest speaker.

Following the networking and project creation sessions, Tuesday will see participants engage in extra-curricular activities. We once again return to The Precinct, the innovation hub of the Queensland Government, to meet with young entrepreneurs and tour the fantastic facilities. Here are some reflections from our previous Dialogue attendees on their experience at The Precinct.  Following the visit, attendees will receive a guided tour of the ‘Women’s Wealth’ exhibition by curator Ruth McDougall at the Queensland Art Gallery.

Unable to attend the Dialogue? You can still join in the discussions online, using the hashtags: #PacificConnect, #DigitalPacific and #PacificWomenInBusiness. Dialogue proceedings will be promoted across ICDP’s Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Photos and ICDP publications from the event will be published on our website.

We look forward to the engaging discussions – see you next week from Brisbane!