Technology + Creativity at the BBC Feed 421w4k

2019-03-22T16:13:15+00:00

Step into Tech is a D+E initiative to make a positive impact on gender balance in our software engineering community. It's essential that organisations like ourselves make positive interventions like this to take on the challenge of gender diversity within the technology sector. This isn't all we need to do; much more is required, and it's great to see us turn this idea into action.

"It's been fantastic to track the progress of this first cohort of 16 women, as they made their way through the initial selection stage, onto the training programme and then to see how much they have all learned when they presented their projects on graduation evening. It makes me very proud to be the sponsor of this initiative, something that's going to make a real impact; I can't wait to meet our next intake!" Matt Great, Director of Platform, BBC Design+Engineering.

"The success of this programme is evidence that there are other routes into software engineering as well and not just the traditional routes; as long as the key behaviours can be demonstrated the technical skills can be taught. I know from speaking to all of the students, that many do feel that The Step into Tech programme really has been a life changing experience and opened up a new world of opportunities that some thought were out of reach. I am so proud to have to have been the project lead in getting this programme off the ground and to experience first-hand the positive impact this has had with our first cohort and the teams across Design + Engineering. I look forwarding to planning the next one!" Sue Mosley, HR Business Partner.

2019-01-09T11:44:36+00:00

As part of its ongoing Diversity programmes, BBC Design + Engineering is hosting its next Women in Tech event on Thursday 17th January 2019 in Salford, Media City. The evening will consist of several short talks from internal and external speakers, themed around what it's like to be a woman in technology.

Confirmed speakers include Shefaly Yogendra, Chief Operating Officer of Ditto AI, a Manchester-based company specialising in explainable AI, and Sarah Tulip, Operations Director of Software Cloud, a Leeds-based technology business

You can find more details here, including the opportunity to book a place.

2018-11-27T13:13:54+00:00

This month Design + Engineering in partnership with our external training provider – Tech Returners – kicked off the inaugural Step into Tech programme in Salford. This 14 week, part-time, programme will teach women, external and internal to the BBC, the basic concepts around software engineering and the course curriculum has been designed around a new role in the Software Engineering job family, Associate Software Engineer. At end of this programme, the cohort will have the necessary skills needed to apply for an entry level role of Associate Software Engineer within the BBC Design + Engineering Division.

The programme kicked off with several D+E colleagues welcoming the group to the BBC. Following introductions from Sue Mosley, the HR Business Parter who is leading the programme, Matt Grest, Director of Platform provided an overview of Design + Engineering and the areas within the division and Sam Hill, Head of Software Engineering, gave an engaging outline of what software engineering at the BBC looks like. Charlotte Hoare, Software Engineering Team Lead and Laura Howarth-Kirke, Senior Software Engineer, who are mentors on the Step into Tech programme, also shared their journey into Software Engineering with the group.

Lots of colleagues from the various job families across D + E have volunteered their time to go along to talk about their job function and what it means to be part of BBC D+E – thank you to everyone who has got involved so far.

Sue Mosley, HR Business Partner, said: "It's so pleasing to have witnessed first-hand the enthusiasm from this group of women during the Step into Tech kick-off session. It is amazing to see how engaged they are with the programme already. From this group, 14 out of the 16 are from non-technical backgrounds with non-related degrees or qualifications – the fact we have encouraged such a positive group of budding software engineers to the scheme shows that we are in a great position to increase gender diversity across D+E"

Charlotte Hoare, Software Engineering Team Lead and mentor on the programme said: "I was excited to be asked to mentor on the Step into Tech programme, and am even more excited now having met the 16-strong cohort! The curriculum we have lined-up and the enthusiasm in the room on day one have made me feel like we're taking real, tangible steps towards redressing the gender balance in the tech sector. I'm excited to follow the progress of this cohort and of Step into Tech in the future."

One of the new students on the programme, Emma, said: "When I heard I had been selected to the first Step Into Tech programme I was so excited to get started. I have always wanted to get into technology but didn't know how I could break into the industry without going to University. This programme is giving me the opportunity to not only learn the skills required to get started in a technology career, it also helps me to understand and feel more confident in how I could apply for an entry level role, hopefully within the BBC."

your interest for our next Step into Tech programme email: [email protected]

Visit our careers page: https://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/

2018-09-18T12:33:28+00:00

Just 17% of Tech/ICT workers in the UK are female, while only one in ten females are currently taking A-Level computer studies, and yet there is a looming digital skills gap where the UK needs one million more tech workers by 2020 (source:Tech Talent Charter). Organisations need to work together and take learnings from each other as to how we can solve this problem.

Here at BBC D+E, we are committed to address the gender imbalance within the division and look at what initiatives we can implement to improve this, my role is to lead on this programme of work which is sponsored by our Chief Technology and Product Officer, Matthew Postgate.

We launched our Career Returner programme advert, which will experienced women (and men) who have taken an extended career break of 2 or more years back into mid-senior level roles within our Design + Engineering division. The next action we have taken is to address what we can do to inspire more females to take up a career within software engineering. We have learnt from what other organisations have successfully achieved in this space and we will follow suit.

Our Step into Tech programme is a free 14 week (part-time) training programme, with our first pilot delivered onsite at BBC Media City. Students will be taught the basic concepts around software engineering and at the end of the course will have the necessary skills needed to apply for an entry level software engineer role within the BBC Design + Engineering Division. Not only will this scheme be open to external applicants, but also to BBC employees and this will encourage progression from other areas of the BBC into the Design+Engineering division.

By introducing these various initiatives, we’re taking a step forward in making progress to address the gender imbalance in the technology sector. The more organisations who do take action, the faster we will fix the problem.

It’s not just about fixing the talent pipeline; we have committed to a number of initiatives that are focused around Culture and Progression to ensure we are retaining our women and making the BBC an even greater place for women.

To find out more about our Step into Tech programme click here.

2018-09-10T12:26:27+00:00

I ed BBC’s Design + Engineering division in April this year with a specific remit, and that is to look at ways we can improve gender diversity across the division and to put these thoughts into action. We have a shared issue with so many other organisations who struggle to attract women into technology roles – there is a distinct lack of this talent in the pipeline and we all have to work together and take the necessary steps to change that.

BBC Design + Engineering want to open up new avenues of opportunity – and the first programme of work that I have been leading has now launched with our advert now running for the ‘pilot’ of our very first Career Returner Programme. There’s a lot of people out there, women and men, who take career breaks for many different reasons, and a high proportion of these people are so keen to get back into the workplace, this is a relatively untouched pool of talent and we want to do what we can to help them to return to the workplace into a suitable and relevant role.

It’s exciting to be a part of something that is really going to have such a significant impact for these individuals who are so keen to get back to work. We will ensure all our career returners receive the coaching and additional training they need to get them up to speed within an inclusive and collaborative environment.

To learn more about our Career Returner Programme and the roles we have available please go to this link here.

2018-03-07T11:00:45+00:00

For International Women's Day, broadcast engineer Angela Stevenson describes some of the inspirations she had for her career and how she tries to encourage school children in a similar way.

“When did you know you wanted to be a Broadcast Engineer?” is the question asked most often by school students in the STEM sessions I undertake. These young people are looking for the clues in their own life which will determine a career choice. It is a huge honour to be trusted to help young people answer their own career questions and I vividly finding my own answers. When I was in secondary school the BBC brought an exhibition of its technologies to a sports hall in Newcastle. My family went to the exhibition and I met BBC engineers who showed their future predictions of media, video on demand, decades before iPlayer came into being. This event made a significant impression. In the earliest days of personal computing and dial up modems I understood the impact the internet was going to have on media and instantly I wanted to be part of it.

Angela on location for a roadshow

It was many years later I realised my youthful path to career answers came in three stages. In preparation for a STEM event I asked my parents when they knew I’d be an engineer. Their answer; “always, probably from being a toddler, definitely many years before the BBC exhibition visited”. My personality arrived young, from asking Father Christmas for hi-fi separates to always carrying a children’s encyclopaedia. Looking back I have no recollection of knowing society projected stereotypes onto little girls. Certainly I was protected from the thoughts of a small minority of adults but I didn’t see myself as different to other children. My sister had a doll, I made a house for it. My best friend had a toy robot, it was the central participant of all games.

The third piece of the puzzle fell into place on my first visit to a drama summer club. The older children had a radio station. Already being an expert at editing the Radio 1 Top 40 on a twin cassette deck, I couldn’t wait to . I can recall in technicolour the day my hip was arranged. During a visit to the ‘studio’, really repurposed theatre sound equipment, I knew I’d found the place I could be something that felt incredibly important even before I had the words to describe it.

Angela tries her hand at cricket commentary at an early age

I realise this certainty is rare and of little use to young people I work with today, but as an adult being able to understand a process which was unconscious at the time helps in determining the answers students need. I introduce engineering as one example of a career choice that some might make, with the variety of roles and industries to which it is important, but maintain that finding a career they each love is my hope for their future. The real detail of how I came to be an engineer is important in answering the other question I am often asked…

What is it like to be a female engineer? is a question only asked by adults and for many years one I was unequipped to answer. My work in schools is hugely influenced by the first time I was asked this question. I was a teenager working on live sound with engineers I hoped were willing to work with me despite my youth and inexperience. A woman approached my colleagues to express delight at seeing a female engineer. In that moment I feared my dream would no longer come true as those I wanted to work with would see me differently and have reason not to believe in my ability. When I first visited schools I was disappointed to experience this again in the way teachers presented me to their students. I now brief schools to present me as an engineer they are unsurprised to see in order that students consider my career a realistic prospect for themselves. I mixed group activities as the opinions of future male engineers are equally crucial to change. They too need to see me as an engineer who achieved what they should expect possible of all their classmates. What is rare in one generation we must ensure is commonplace in the next.

Inspiring the next generation

To this day I find the gender question a complicated one to answer without applying stereotypes I don’t identify with to myself and other women. I all efforts to improve equality while wanting us to strive for more. I aim to conduct myself now in a way my younger self would have found ive, not patronising or alienating among her peers. As someone who fully expected to enter an engineering career alongside many female peers I cannot deny that the low rate of women in engineering, currently at 9%, has opened my eyes to a reality I didn’t foresee.. Examining my own path into a life society did not expect of me has brought into focus many things about myself, my interests and my abilities which have proved a valuable steer. I think there are three core components to creating equality; recruit, retain and represent.

To recruit we must ensure everyone knows a career in engineering is a possibility and that as an employer we welcome their application. In this area I am very reassured that the BBC takes unconscious bias and recruitment without gender identification incredibly seriously. My role, and one I share with all engineering colleagues, is to ensure as many people as possible know engineering is a realistic prospect through outreach engagements and mentoring. Only then can equality in the workplace emerge.

To achieve representation I face my discomfort in speaking publicly to try to be a visible presence at industry events. Each professional can only commit a small amount of time to networking and public presentation of our work. I try to use my presence to stand up in the spaces where male colleagues gauge the landscape of our profession in the hope I can influence the beliefs of the whole industry. I was encouraged in my beliefs by an engineer I ire hugely who brought to my attention the nature of engineering as one of self-doubt. We are always teaching ourselves so the world can benefit from what we learn, always seeking answers to new questions and changing our capabilities as the science and technology changes around us. This poses a unique retention question, how can one person keep pace with colleagues during a year away from a field which changes daily? How can one return to a role that is unrecognisable from when it was last occupied? I hope the BBC can lead in new approaches to ensure valuable engineering skills can be retained despite whatever challenges life may present.

On each International Women’s Day we celebrate the efforts of those who have striven for change to give future generations situations they expect no less of. Each year I hope the number of young women wanting to become engineers not only increases but also that we get to a state where we can’t believe it was ever different. I hope all engineers me in this commitment and through changing our industry we all gain greater understanding of ourselves and the vocations we are ionate about.

What is it like to be an engineer? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

2018-02-05T14:51:27+00:00

Last month we reported on the 24 hour Diversity Hackathon, involving 100+ staff from BBC News and BBC Design & Engineering. You can find out about it here and read Head of Data Science and Architecture Gabriel Straub's blog, but now we can also bring you the video highlights below. Enjoy.

2018-01-24T18:34:35+00:00

Gabriel Straub from BBC Design and Engineering's Technology, Strategy and Architecture team, lists all the ingredients that went into last week's 24 hour Hackathon.

“Go hack” went the cry, and with that staff from across the BBC began the first 24 hour Diversity Hackathon, which set out to explore ways that data can BBC News journalists to make content that better represents the diverse range of interests and voices in the UK.

At 10.00am on Thursday 18th January, over 100 BBC staff from Design & Engineering, News, Monitoring and R&D gathered in the BBC’s central London headquarters to voluntarily run this first BBC 24 hour coding event.

The Hackathon Brief

The aim was to build prototypes that could :

• Our Editorial Choices – how can we better discover and report those important topics that are not part of the continuous cycle of breaking news and the more traditional news stories and sources?

• Our Coverage – how can we better understand what ‘underserved’ audience groups want from a story?

Fiona Campbell, Controller BBC News Mobile & Online, sets out the challenge

The Hack Teams

The BBC staff volunteers were grouped into 14 diverse teams comprising journalists, engineers, architects, data scientists, graduate trainees, audience researchers and marketing professionals, and the response was fantastic. Our ambition from the outset was to break down the silos between departments, cement new friendships across the organisation, encourage people with different skills, from different parts of the BBC to all come together successfully as a team…and we did it!

And this is how….

24 hours to go

10:00 Introduction by Jatin Aythora, BBC Chief Architect, TS&A followed by Problem Presentation by Fiona Campbell, Controller of BBC News Mobile & Online

10:45 Hacking starts and continues for next 24 hours!

14:00 Lunchtime check in and first vote. First 3 minute pitch presentations from the teams

22:00 Late Dinner check in and second vote. Second 3 minute pitch presentations from the teams

08:00 Breakfast check in and vote. Final 5 announced!

10: 00 Demos and judging . Winner is announced.

Throughout the 24 hours, to give people a break from a hard day (and night) of work, we organised some inspiring entertainment, as well as an open bar and food round the clock. Among the highlights were a workshop with steel band Ebony to learn how to play the steelpan, a chance to pitch your wits against renowned computer scientist and academic Dr Sue Black who hosted a quiz, a variety of stand-up comedians and musicians, yoga classes to stretch out and relax, table tennis, fussball and Jenga for the more energetic, and large squashy bean bags for those needing a power nap.

Late night yoga to keep teams going

A late night lesson in steelpan

The event ended with the demos and judging session hosted by former Tomorrow’s World presenter Maggie Philbin. The judging of senior editorial and technology staff from BBC Design & Engineering and BBC News, were impressed by the quality of entries. I was impressed by the sustained enthusiasm, creativity and frenzied coding amongst all the teams – some even took to the streets to test out their idea on the public!

Watch this space for how we plan to take their ideas to the next stage. But one thing that’s certain – as a result of the fantastic we’ve received both from the judges and participants, we’ll be holding more Hackathons in the future.

The Hackathon was not just about demonstrating how technology can help open new paths into understanding the diverse interests, opinions and perspectives of our audiences - as a data scientist I would say that - but, for me it was also about showing how working and innovating with people across the organisation can produce amazing ideas which could help transform the way we serve our audiences.

The event in code…

• 102 participants
• 14 teams
• 7 judges
• 2 event spaces
• 1,171 emails about logistics!
• 16 weeks of planning
• 12 oversized beanbags
• 9 inspiring entertainment acts
• 0 hours of sleep (for some)
• 40 bags of assorted sweets
• 24 hours
• = 1 successful Hackathon!

The final word must go to our BBC sponsors across Design & Engineering departments, News and Monitoring without whose amazing this 24hr Diversity Hackathon could not have gone ahead. Thank you!

2018-01-19T13:57:11+00:00

Former Tomorrow's World presenter Maggie Philbin ends the Hackathon

Exhausted but enthusiastic teams of developers and journalists finally ended their 24-hour Diversity Hackathon at New Broadcasting House on Friday. The top five ideas were presented to a judging of senior staff from BBC Design & Engineering and BBC News, who were impressed by the quality of entries.

"We wanted all the ideas that were shortlisted, but that would be a cop-out," said Matthew Postgate, D&E's Chief Technology and Product Officer. "It's a testament to the amount of hard work put in." The winning idea was from Team React exploring the use of emojis to allow audiences both to react to stories and to drive their own news agenda according to their mood.

The winning team

"It was intense but fun and very productive," said Magda Piatkowska, lead data scientist in BBC News' Audience Engagement & Data team, who organised the event. "A good number of people stayed throughout the night and were coding like crazy. Some went down to the newsroom to the journalists there - it was brilliant."

The idea of a 24 hour hackathon came to her after her experiences working in the commercial sector in San Francisco. "Sometimes you just don't have enough time to develop ideas in the day-to-day environment, so this was a great opportunity to get different teams working together."

There'll be more reaction from those involved on this blog next week.

2018-01-18T12:23:54+00:00

The BBC's first ever 24 hour hackathon began this morning in London's New Broadcasting House. More than 100 editorial and technical staff are gathering in teams that will be working through the night and into the following morning.

Their challenge - to create new algorithms and formats to surface BBC News Online content to a more diverse audience. The teams will be exploring how data can help journalists make content that fairly captures the variety of people and stories across the UK.

Fiona Campbell, Controller BBC News Mobile & Online, sets out the challenge

There will be a full report, including the announcement of the winning team and interviews, on this blog next week. We'll keep you posted.

2016-08-15T10:59:26+00:00

Diversity and inclusion are key ambitions for the BBC, as it attempts to represent as fully as possible the audiences it serves. In this blog, Producer Adaobi Ifeachor explains how the Design and Engineering division are working hard to increase the breadth of applicants it sees applying for roles at the BBC, starting with the behind the scenes video below on BBC iPlayer.

From UX designers to testers, from website developers to engineers; there are a variety of digital roles involved in making products like BBC iPlayer and the BBC News website. The trouble is, these roles may appear relatively hidden, compared to other well-known positions in the company. The BBC has such a strong reputation in journalism, TV drama and radio – tell someone that you work at the BBC, and they’ll probably assume that you’re part of those teams. But, is it the destination that springs to mind when people begin to plan their next career steps in tech?

We’d like to make sure that it is.

In April, the BBC unveiled its five year Diversity and Inclusion strategy. It stressed that creativity is the lifeblood of the BBC, allowing us to reach our audiences in new, innovative and distinctive ways. But, if we’re to stand-out as an industry innovator, we need to employ staff with the widest possible range of experiences, talent and ideas. Put another way, it’s important that our workforce reflect the diversity of Britain.

Currently, 27.2% of staff in BBC Design and Engineering are women, 16.7% are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds and 4.9% are people with disabilities. Whilst the makeup of our tech teams beat the industry averages, there’s still some work to do.

So, with the goal of increasing applications from minority groups, we’re going to ‘pull back the curtain’ and show what it’s really like to work in a technical division at the BBC. We’ve begun by planning a series of short videos to introduce the teams behind some of our digital products - the first of which you can watch at the top of this blog, based around BBC iPlayer.

We want people to understand the central message: ‘we hire on merit and we may have a place for you. So get in touch’. But, with each video, it’s been challenging attempting to strike a balance. We’ve tried to show how flexible the BBC is as an employer, without painting an unrealistic picture of adjustments that can be made on a case-by-case basis.

We’ve also tried to show the range of opportunities that can come up beyond the usual day-to-day project tasks. For example, while working with BBC News Labs, Developer Tamsin Green recently returned from a business trip to Lagos, Nigeria. They were presenting a challenge to developers to create a World Service app for African audiences at CC-Hub – a social innovation start-up incubator which offers workspaces to new businesses and holds networking events.

The News Labs team shared strategies for growing mobile audiences and innovative ways of working with content. Tamsin had only just ed the BBC on a graduate scheme that has seen her spend time with a number of different digital teams in London, in addition to her time in Africa.

Tamsin Green presenting at a business event in Lagos, Nigeria

Beyond graduate schemes, like Tamsin’s, we have roles available right now in our Design and Engineering division. We’re looking for candidates with experience of software engineering best practices with a strong emphasis on delivering quality products, including Test Driven Development (TDD), Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) and Agile methodologies.

We want to hear from people who can adapt to different technologies, are good problem solvers and can collaborate with multiple disciplines to deliver great digital products. People who’ve worked with cloud computing products such as AWS or Microsoft Cloud should also get in touch.

To learn more about our division you can visit the BBC Careers website. Or, for more information about the opportunities on offer and details about Diversity and Inclusion recruitment events, please follow BBC Careers on Twitter. Also, do let us know which BBC tech teams you’d like to learn more about.

2015-12-09T15:51:14+00:00

The Diversity team run regular events aimed particularly at those who have tech skills, qualifications or experience and whom also have a disability, in order to help attract more disabled talent to roles in BBC Digital. In advance of the next event being held in Salford on December 17th, Emma Crother and her manager Dave Brown share their thoughts and experiences on attending a previous session.

Emma: Earlier this year I attended one of BBC Digital’s ‘People with Disabilities in Tech (PDT)’ events which was a great opportunity to learn about the BBC, gain valuable job application advice and meet like-minded people. At the time I was working for the Choir of St John’s College in Cambridge creating content for the Choir’s website, but I was looking for a new challenge and was keen to hear more about vacancies at the BBC.

As well as information about the digital products and services run by the BBC, the PDT day included development workshops which gave advice on personal branding and interview techniques. We also participated in discussions lead by BBC News Disability Correspondent Nikki Fox, about recruiting and ing disabled staff at the BBC. One of the most important factors that arose from the discussions was that everyone is unique and disability affects everyone differently – we were encouraged to think positively, focus on applying our strengths and find a role that we would really enjoy.

Dave: As a manager, it was great to attend the PDT event and learn a lot more about disability issues in the workplace. There was evidently a great depth of talent among the attendees, but the most striking aspect was the enthusiasm which people attending had for tech and the career possibilities at the BBC and within the wider industry.

Emma: It was really interesting to hear about the BBC digital products, including iPlayer, in the mini masterclasses. Throughout the day there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions about services including iPlayer, BBC websites and the Red Button. The BBC Digital team leaders also gave presentations which provided information about the roles available on their teams that BBC Digital services in Salford.

Dave: It's always great to be able to interact directly with potential applicants for a role, and the opportunity to present who we are and what we do in the Online Technology Group was a really valuable one for me. Speaking after the event was also great - people who were interested in hearing more about the role were able to ask me questions, and I could go into a bit more detail where it was necessary.

Emma: Attending the event inspired me to apply for a job at the BBC. I submitted my application online, was invited to attend an interview and subsequently was offered a job on the Media Management Operators (MMO) team in Salford. I’ve now been in post for 6 months and I’m really enjoying being an MMO, working as part of the 24/7 team in the Online Technology Group.

The main purpose of the MMO role is to manage the delivery of audio and video content to BBC iPlayer and BBC Radio Player. My job also involves maintaining BBC iPlayer – quality checking the content, noticing anomalies within the iPlayer schedule, and troubleshooting issues on the iPlayer platform. I love the problem solving element of my job, in particular spotting inconsistencies and raising issues. Before I ed the BBC I used the iPlayer on a daily basis, and I find it satisfying to know that I have contributed to maintaining such a great product.

Dave: Emma has been an enormous boost to the MMO team in the North, and I would not have had the opportunity to meet her and explain the role were it not for the PDT. In my view managers are still under-educated in this area, and it's such a mutually beneficial event that I can't recommend it highly enough.

The BBC is running two further PDT events, one in Salford on 17 December 2015 and another in London on 29 March 2016. For more details, including how to apply for a place, please visit the BBC Diversity website.

2015-11-10T11:42:50+00:00

Diversity is a key objective for the BBC with the ambition to reflect through its workforce, strategies, policies and programming, the diversity of its audiences. The BBC Diversity team organise regular events to promote this aim, as Events Manager Nicola Crowther explains. June Angelides, founder of Mums In Technology, also shares her thoughts on a recent session held by BBC Digital in London.

We need a diverse workforce at the BBC for two key reasons. Firstly, if our teams include people from a wide range of backgrounds then we will be more reflective of our audiences and better able to serve them. Secondly, it just makes good business sense – employing people with different ideas, viewpoints, life experiences and skills leads to more creativity, problem-solving and productivity.

Within BBC Digital we are particularly keen to increase the numbers of technical women that we employ, from 25% currently to 30% by 2017. Our work includes projects to the retention of existing female staff plus initiatives to attract more talented tech women to apply for roles at the BBC.

It is common knowledge that there is an industry-wide shortage of technically skilled women and so we are thinking creatively about the ways in which we can find new talent, including working with women who are looking to make a career change into tech. Mums in Technology is a child-friendly coding school which includes a number of women who are looking to move into roles within technology. They requested a visit to BBC Digital to find out more about the online products and services we design, develop and run plus the types of job opportunities available and we were happy to accommodate the visit. You can read more about their experience below.

June Angelides writes: It was clear from the start that this would be a rather unusual visitor list for the BBC, when a number of prams appeared at reception at Broadcasting House. We had the minimum-age lowered quite considerably for this visit.

As you may be aware, the BBC have launched a nationwide initiative - ‘Make it Digital’ - to inspire a new generation of coders and programmers to gain access to careers in digital technology. In line with coding becoming part of the school curriculum, they are producing 1 million devices called the BBC micro:bit for year 7 pupils, in partnership with multiple stakeholders from within the industry.

There is currently a large skills shortage in the technology sector, with an estimated 1.4m digital professionals needed to fill the gap over the next five years. Alongside this, there's also a huge drive to get more women into tech, where organisations like Codefirst:Girls, Mums in Technology and Codebar are doing their bit to make technology accessible to all.

We believe that it is important to remove barriers to entry and that individuals should be given the power to take control of their digital learning. Spending the day at the BBC highlighted the different entry routes into BBC Digital. We got a good understanding of the different teams and the different types of people that work there and how much they value diversity.

There was so much ion and pride that comes from working for such a well-known organisation. It also comes with a lot of responsibility. It was obvious that everyone took that responsibility to share knowledge and experiences to heart.

It was really inspiring to hear the personal journeys of women currently working in tech at the BBC. We all walked away feeling like we would both love to work there and that it was achievable if we put the hard work in. It was clear to me that diversity is high on the agenda for BBC Digital.