Guayaquil, March 6, 2023.- At the facilities of the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce in Guayaquil, LIDE carried out the inauguration of the New Dimensions scholarship program. During the event, the scholarship recipients and their families were able to learn more about the program, its instructors, and the challenges they will face in the coming months. The event was accompanied by the main allies of the program: the Embassy of the United States in Ecuador, DataCamp, Adecco, the Argos Technological Institute, and the Leonidas Ortega Moreira Foundation.

Chigozie Okocha, public affairs officer of the United States Embassy, reaffirmed the diplomatic mission’s commitment to the New Dimensions program. According to Okocha, promoting gender equality and education in the countries of the Americas are among the main objectives of the U.S. government.

The director of the New Dimensions program and co-director of the Lab, Alonso Quijano, thanked the support received from the allied institutions and congratulated the scholarship recipients for achieving this milestone. “The selection process was very rigorous as more than 600 candidates applied. The quality of the applications and the level of skills demonstrated by the applicants was impressive, which made the selection task difficult,” said Alonso.

From New York, Nathaniel Taylor-Leach, Director of Social Impact at DataCamp, also welcomed our scholarship recipients and expressed his satisfaction with the New Dimensions program. DataCamp is the world’s number one online platform for learning data science; through its ‘DataCamp Donates’ program, the scholarship recipients will have free access to this platform. Nathaniel highlighted the fact that the Lab is the only NGO in Ecuador that is part of its network of more than 100 accredited organizations.

The first class of the program will take place on March 8, coinciding with the date on which International Women’s Day is commemorated.

LIDE will always be committed to reducing the gender gap in data science. We are confident that we will have sufficient support to ensure that the New Dimensions program can continue to be carried out in subsequent years.