THE MISSION. TACKLING 4 PROBLEMS AT ONCE.
People want to contribute to a better world, but don't know how.
Professionals and students want to apply their skills to make positive difference in the world but opportunities to do so are incredibly scarce.
The experience of building software from scratch, changing roles or leading within a team is hard to come by.
Short of changing jobs, it is almost impossible to gain experience in a different tech role, whether that may be a leadership role, a different specialization, or transitioning into tech without hands-on experience in that area
Non-profits cannot innovate and implement technology enough.
Non-profit organizations could scale their impact, save costs and increase efficiencies with digital solutions, but often lack the resources to develop tech tailored to their needs.
We are losing out due to skills shortage and gender inequality.
There is a massive labor shortage in the tech industry and on top of that, women are vastly underrepresented in tech. It is estimated that by 2030, 40'000 full time employees will be missing from the Swiss tech sector. On top of that only 16% of IT professionals are women. Companies who want to make a difference find it nearly impossible to find the right talent..
WHO PARTICIPATES?
Whether you are an expert software developer or you just started your journey into tech, there is space for you and you will find others like you.
50%
of participants have less than 3 years of hands-on experience in tech. Some participants are transitioning from other fields and have little to no hands-on experience. Over 20% of participants have more than 5 years of experience.
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70%
Is the average percentage of women participating in deploy(impact). The program is open to all genders and specifically designed support the cause of bringing more gender diversity to the tech industry. Everyone is welcome.
THE ROLES
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As this program is designed to facilitate building full product prototypes, the most prominent roles in product development are represented.
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Whether you are just about to take your first steps in one of these roles or have been acting in any of these functions for years, deploy(impact) brings juniors and seniors together to maximize skill development, collaboration and real-life scenarios.
THE LOCATION
Participating at deploy(impact) is possible from anywhere in the world. The program begins and ends with hybrid, on-site events. So, even if you are not in and around Switzerland, you can take part online.
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29
Number of countries participants were located in during deploy(impact) 2023
70%
of participants were living in Switzerland in 2023
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HOW IT WORKS
Applications to participate open
Participating at deploy(impact) is possible from anywhere in the world. The program begins and ends with hybrid, on-site events. So, even if you are not in and around Switzerland, you can take part online.
Participants sorted into cross functional product teams based on experience and role
Teams are 7-8 people. Based on project demands and with the aim to pair seniors with juniors in their roles, teams are staffed to to maximize the opportunity to learn, develop leadership and experimenting with new skills.
Kickoff! Two days hybrid in Zürich to prep for product development
200+ attendees: companies, academia, nonprofits and 140 tech enthusiasts come together for interactive workshops hosted by sponsors to tackle the most fundamental aspects of a software project: team building, project methodology, system design, feature roadmapping etc.
Mentoring and support along the way
Throughout the 6 weeks, mentors from sponsoring companies will accompany and guide teams through their journey to support the learning experience. Additionally, each team is provided with a team satellite by women++.
Code ready for implementation by non-profits
The non-profit organizations choose which prototypes (or parts thereof) they want to implement and can engage participants to contribute to the implementation on mutual agreement.
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Non-profit organizations
provide cases
Reputable non-profit organizations working on social or environmental causes provide cases; real problems they face in promoting their cause and for which they need a digital solution
Each team gets one
non-profit challenge
The aim? Design, implement and pitch the most complete software solution for the non-profit project within 6 weeks.
6 weeks of remote development
Teams remotely work together using an agile project methodology to build an open-source prototype to solve a case in support of a social or environmental cause.
Pitching day!
At the end of the 6 weeks, a hybrid pitching day will provide all teams the opportunity to present their solution, at which point the most complete solution for each case will be chosen to win the best project per case.
3 EDITIONS
IN NUMBERS
170 participants
56 mentors
25 prototypes
10 companies
5 non-profits
THE IMPACT ON PROJECTS
5 non-profit organizations received a total 25 prototypes to use.
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2 non-profits organizations implemented code from the program
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2 non-profits are in the process of implementing solutions with code from the program.
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THE IMPACT ON PARTICIPANTS
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68%
OF THOSE LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB SAW IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR JOB SEARCH
66%
IMPROVED COLLABORATION SKILLS
40%
SAW THEIR LEADERSHIP SKILLS IMPROVE
77%
FELT MORE CONFIDENT AFTER THE PROGRAM: TO LEAD, TAKE DECISIONS, EXPERIMENT WITH NEW TECH, SPEAK UP IN TEAMS ETC.
TESTIMONIALS. WHAT OTHERS SAY.
Over the six-week long project, collaborating as a team for a good cause and the networking opportunities that were available to me during deploy(impact) were extremely helpful.
It is such an amazing programme to not only improve my technical skills but also work alongside other developers, programmers and UX/UI designers towards a common goal. Importantly, it has also opened up job opportunities for me in the tech space.”
Emilie Humbert
Software Engineer
deploy(impact) participant
​
Zurich, Switzerland
It's our great pleasure to support the women++ deploy(impact) program because the Swiss job market needs more talent in the IT industry. Our experienced Capgemini mentors have done an excellent job, and we are committed to increase the number of women working in the tech sector.
Guida Kapmann
CEO
Sponsoring partner
​
Capgemini Switzerland
The mission of women++ very well aligns with our D&I strategy and very well connects with our goal to increase the share of women in tech. We truly believe that diverse teams are much stronger and also we feel the call that we actually have to walk to a more diverse and inclusive society.
Dunja-Maria Bischof
CPO & Site Operations Lead
Sponsoring Partner
​
Zalando Switzerland
deploy(impact) gave me great experience working in a specialised team where each person had their designated function i.e PM, developer, UX etc. This was my first experience working in a scrum configuration with sprints, which was especially helpful when I transitioned to my next role as the start up was just implementing scrum and I was able to help guide them with useful tips and tricks that I had picked up from my project and team.
Alexandra Bödtker
Engineer & Project Lead
deploy(impact) participant
​
Zurich, Switzerland
After completing the project, I included it in my portfolio and CV. I did a new round of applications, which was really successful. I was invited for a lot more interviews and it was the project I mainly spoke about. Also, it was a real project and not a case study, which helped a lot. Now I have my first full-time #job in #UX, I'm a junior user researcher
Fotini Handra
User Researcher
deploy(impact) participant​
​
London, UK
We challenged 5 teams with a software project and there was a high variety of solutions. Each team approached the challenge from different angles, utilising their unique team's strengths, coming up with a usable application that we can easily implement.
Martin Seifert
CRM & Data Analyst
Non-profit Partner​
​
Pro Juventute Switzerland
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