PALO ALTO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/02/12 -- The Anita Borg Institute (ABI) will address the question, "Are We There Yet?" this week at its 7th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) event in Baltimore, MD. Over 3,600 people from 42 countries, including technical women, corporate executives, academic institutions, students and government officials, will gather to present new research and discuss women's advances, opportunities and challenges in computer science and technology.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there will be 1.4 million new jobs in computing and computer-related roles created by 2018. By 2016, U.S. companies will only be able to fill half of their technical positions with computer science graduates. Over the last two decades, the Anita Borg Institute has provided resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and advance women in high-tech fields.

"There are excellent role models for women in computer science and technology today," said Telle Whitney, president and CEO of The Anita Borg Institute. "Many of the women technologists who are speaking at this year's conference are leading researchers, computer science professors, and technical executives at leading companies and leaders from government agencies. Their accomplishments are impressive. While women today are clearly major contributors in highly technical fields, there is still plenty of work to do to inspire and advance women of all ages to embrace technology as a career."

ABI, along with its various sponsors will discuss how to create and foster academic and work environments that encourage women of all ages to seek professions in computer and engineering fields.

2012 sponsors include:

Corporate and Government Sponsors

• Platinum Corporate Sponsors: Amazon, Broadcom, CA Technologies, Cisco, Dell Inc., Facebook, Google Inc., HP, IBM, Intel Corporation, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Microsoft, NetApp, SAP, Thomson Reuters
• Platinum Government Patrons: National Science Foundation, National Security Agency
• Gold Corporate Sponsors: Teradata Corporation, ThoughtWorks
• Silver Corporate Sponsors: Adobe Systems, American Express, Aruba Networks, AT&T, Barclays, BlackRock, Bloomberg LP, Box, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Dropbox, EMC2, Expedia Inc., Factset, GE, Goldman Sachs & Co., LAB126, LinkedIn, MasterCard Worldwide, Morgan Stanley, Neustar, Northrop Grumman, Palantir Technologies, PayPal, Qualcomm, Raytheon, Rosetta Stone Ltd, RMS, salesforce.com, Square, State Farm, Symantec, Twitter, USAA, U.S. Navy, VMware, Xerox, Yahoo!

University Representatives

• Gold Academic Sponsors: ATLAS Institute Univ. of Colorado, Carnegie Mellon University INI, Dartmouth College Computer Science Dept., Georgia Tech College of Computing, Harvey Mudd College, New York University, Oakland University School of Eng. and Computer Science, Purdue Computer & Information Technology, Texas A&M University, UC San Diego CSE/UC Irvine ICS/Calit2, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Virginia Tech.

The annual four-day event will feature over 400 speakers from academia, industry and government. Key technical areas that will be discussed are social collaboration in computing, the emerging trend of big data, and computer security. The event includes an Open Source Day and Code-a-thon for Humanity, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Systers, the largest global online community for technical women, and a multi-day career fair consisting of over 110 companies promoting open computer science and engineering positions at all levels. 320 scholarships were awarded to college undergraduates, graduate and post doctoral students to attend this year's event underwritten by ABI, corporate sponsors, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

One award presenter, Microsoft, a platinum sponsor, will have 165 attendees, including executives, researchers and Microsoft developers who are presenting, speaking, and awarding scholarships. "There are great opportunities for women in computer science and technology and they are growing every year," said Rane Johnson-Stempson, Director at Microsoft Research (MSR). She continued, "As an avid evangelist for women in technology, we need to continue to educate, support and mentor women already in, or about to enter the workplace, about career opportunities in today's dynamic technology workforce."

CA Technologies, another platinum event sponsor and leader in IT management solutions, will also send a large contingent of executives participating on various panels addressing women in technology issues including workplace diversity, cyber security and local economics.

According to Romea Smith, CA Technologies' Senior Vice President of Support, today's workplace not only values, but also embraces, diversity especially within STEM-specific employment opportunities. "The technology industry has always advocated diversity with the goal of attracting smart and creative people who are determined to advance technical innovation," noted Smith. "The industry welcomes the best minds, regardless of the demographics, and women who seek technical positions today have incredible access to training, job searching tools and opportunities that continue to increase in number and importance."

Co-founded by Dr. Anita Borg and Dr. Telle Whitney in 1994 and inspired by the legacy of Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) of Women in Computing is a conference designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities. Leading researchers present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering.

About The Anita Borg Institute (ABI)

The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. Our programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. The Anita Borg Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. Partners include: Google, HP, Microsoft, Amazon, CA Technologies, Cisco, Dell, Facebook, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Lockheed Martin, Marvell, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, Salesforce.com, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Broadcom, EMC2, Neustar, Raytheon, VentureLoop and Yahoo! For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.

Follow the Grace Hopper Celebration on Twitter at @ghc or #GHC12.

Follow the Anita Borg Institute on Twitter at @anitaborg_org

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