Community initiatives supported by CEC are ensuring that opportunities within Cayman’s special economic zones are being created for everyone

Grand
Cayman, Cayman Islands (15 March 2019)
– Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) has attracted 250 special economic
zone (SEZ) companies to establish a physical presence in the Cayman
Islands. This new book of knowledge-based industries is offering a
growing number of opportunities for Caymanians and residents of the
Cayman Islands and CEC is working to ensure that these opportunities
are available and accessible to everyone.

Thursday,
14 March 2019 marked Women
Code Cayman’s first public social event which welcomed over 30
women to Rackam's Waterfront Bar & Grill to learn more about
Cayman’s fastest growing network of female tech professionals. “We
are all about shaking up the male-dominated tech world by fostering
avenues for women to develop tech skills and access opportunities
that are being created within CEC’s Cayman Tech City,” said CEC’s
Public Engagement Officer Bianca Mora. “We’re helping to create
and endorse a growing number of female role models and advocates in
technology, while evening out the gender ratio in Cayman’s tech
scene.”

The
initiative supported Cartan,
The Ministry of Community Affairs,
and CEC, hosts
free weekly workshops hosted at CEC’s Strathvale House location,
which introduces participants to programming and provides a
supportive network for women who are learning to code. Registration
is currently open for a 12-week series which officially begins
Wednesday, 27 March 2019.

“CEC
is adamant on building a community where mutual respect on a peer to
peer level is focused on character over gender. Currently 26% of
individuals working within CEC’s Cayman Tech City are female and
part of a global industry where, according to a recent study
by ISACA, only 21% of tech executives are women and only 8% have
never experienced gender bias in the workplace,” said CEC’s Vice
President of Marketing and Public Engagement, Kaitlyn Elphinstone.

CEC’s
online blog has recently championed female tech leaders and promising
young adults. Posts include articles about; Cynthia
Blanchard, the President of Hercules
SEZC and a global leader and inspiration for women in FinTech;
Monique
Barrett who was awarded a work extension with Intelligent
Devices SEZC Inc. to continue her work with Med-ic® Smart
Packaging technology before embarking on her first year of medical
school; and Thalia
Rego-Ramos CEC’s first ever ‘Summer in the City’ intern who
participated in the programme six years ago and is now working in
UCCI’s Marketing Department
and supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) initiatives such as the STEM
Summer Camp and STEM Carib
Conference.

Through
the Enterprise Cayman
initiative, CEC has responded to the growing number of opportunities
by raising awareness and by helping young Caymanians, including those
who wish to re-tool for a career change, acquire the skills they need
to fill jobs that are being created within Cayman’s three SEZs –
Cayman Tech City, Cayman Maritime & Aviation City, and Cayman
Commodities & Derivatives City. Programmes include internship
placements, networking opportunities, coding workshops, school
presentations, STEM programming, conference scholarships, recruitment
services for CEC community members, an online Jobs
Portal, as well as specialised training courses facilitated by
the Workforce Opportunities Residency Cayman (WORC), formerly known
as the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA).

“As
a country we need to ensure that everyone receives the right support
and encouragement to realise their hopes and dreams of becoming
active contributors to our ever-evolving global digital economy. We
are proud to be a part of the Women Code Cayman initiative,” said
CEC’s CEO Charlie Krikconnell.

Registration
is now open for the 12-week Women Code Cayman series which takes
place Wednesday evenings from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at CEC’s
Strathvale House location. To register and for more information email
Bianca Mora at b.mora@caymanenterprisecity.com.