b'6 Member News March 2021IET updatesFrom the PresidentMy Presidential year is going so quick, so Id like to update you on a few things Ive been involved in during my first few months as President. In October last yearI welcomed the opportunity to support our IET Education department in forming a new partnership aimed at tackling the issue of digital poverty. IET research has shown that the pandemic has rapidly increasedOur 150th anniversary year is the adoption of technology in thefinally here and weve got lots to home, enabling us to stay connected,look forward to in the next few work remotely and learn. With moremonths. In October I was delighted schools and colleges moving toto mark the start of our year-blended learning, one of our goalslong celebrations, which included is to end digital poverty, particularlyannouncing our 16 Honoraryfor disadvantaged children who dontFellows who have been recognised have access to the internet or a laptopfor their extraordinary contributionIn May, were planning a special, or tablet to study on at home.to engineering and technology.celebratory event where we will reveal the winner of our recent Childrens At the end of 2020 I shared newsThe recipients include Dr EbenFiction Prize competition with The Times that we are working in partnershipUpton for designing and developingand Chicken House Books. with Digital Access For All (DAFA) tothe Raspberry Pi device and Dr establish a Digital Poverty Alliance,Anne-Marie Imafidon, co-founder which will hopefully include keyand CEO of Stemettes. TheseWere also organising our first ever stakeholders from across Government,inspiring Difference Makers areinternational Engineering Open Industry and Academia, all workingfeatured on page 4 and I had theHouse Day on Friday, 23 July to in collaboration to tackle thispleasure of interviewing them withgive young people the chance to important issue. Following an initialthe help of our incredible go behind the scenes and find out virtual roundtable, which receivedIET.tv team. how cool and rewarding a career very positive feedback, we havein engineering can be. You can developed a follow up survey for keykeep up to date with all our 150th stakeholders and hope to meet againanniversary plans by visiting soon to review the results and developcelebrate150.theiet.org.both a short and long-term actionColombia, France, Kenya plan. We know this is an ambitious project and there are no quick wins,and Singapore are justBefore then, we have the 2020 Young we see this being a 5+ year projectsome of the locations toWoman Engineer of the Year virtual that will take the collective supportbenefit from our Globalawards ceremony taking place onand action from many, but together4 March 2021 at 7pm GMT to look we hope to achieve our goal of endingVolunteer Engagementforward to. I had the chance to meetdigital poverty for all. Fund, established toour incredibly inspiring finalists whenprovide financial supportI hosted a roundtable, Meet the Im also having regular meetings withFinalists, last December. Please do join the Presidents of the Institution offor volunteer-led events andme and register for the event by visiting Civil Engineers and the Institutionactivities, which focus onyoungwomenengineer.theiet.org.of Mechanical Engineers to discussWere looking forward to you getting sustainability and engageinvolved on social media throughouthow we can work together to inform Government policy wherenew audiences with STEM.the ceremony. Its going to be great! the engineering and technology community can play a vital role. In the meantime, please stay safe.'