Dubbed ‘Glastonbury for Geeks’, the Telefonica-sponsored Campus Party pitched up at the aptly chosen O2 venue in southeast London yesterday with high-profile politicians and the operator itself keen to mix with hackers, developers and technophiles and laud the importance of this offbeat, week-long, 24 hours-a-day technology festival. But one of the overriding themes from the evening’s “opening ceremony” was a somewhat more conservative issue; the industry’s challenge to attract female geeks.

A keynote panel comprising Jose-Maria Alvarez Pallete (chief operating officer of Telefónica), Ronan Dunne (head of the operator group’s UK business), UK communications minister Ed Vaizey and EC digital chief Neelie Kroes all joined host (BBC presenter) Suzi Perry in addressing the issue.

“I look around this room and feel a tinge of sadness – I don’t see enough ladies,” stated Perry. “Less than 20 per cent of the tech industry is women. This has to change. We need to get women to embrace the tech revolution.”

Kroes agreed:  “I regret that the percentage is that low. I strongly believe in equal treatment. It all starts with education – too many girls are thinking it’s not sexy to be in this sector, but it is, it certainly is. I am a sincere believer in giving transparency in opportunity.”

UK member of parliament Ed Vaizey also stressed the importance of addressing this challenge and altering public perception. “We are changing the curricular in schools to encourage kids to learn coding and we are very keen to ensure that that curriculum is as accessible to girls as it is to boys.”

It’s an issue the event is putting a great deal of emphasis on this week, with one full day (Thursday) dedicated to ‘Women in Tech’ and featuring keynotes from Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker and entrepreneur and venture capitalist Julie Meyer.

Other keynote appearances throughout the week include Internet ‘founder’ Vint Cerf, computer pioneer Jon ‘maddog’ Hall, and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

Away from the keynotes, the event expects to attract up to 10,000 (mostly male) hackers, developers, gamers and technophiles under one roof. These ‘campuseros’ come armed with tech kit and around 3,500 of them will camp out in the tent area set up in the London Soccer Dome (pictured, below), next door to the O2.

CAMPUS PARTY

All this is designed to create an environment, according to the event’s organisers, where  “the brightest young minds in technology and science can be united under the idea that ‘the Internet is not a network of computers, it’s a network of people’.” It’s clear that at the heart of Campus Party is the desire to ensure the tech industry has a healthy future led by a new generation of supergeeks. To help that, a massive digital skills marketplace will sit at the heart of the festival giving information on jobs while also connecting people up to potential employers, potential employees and education or training.

Certainly the event has come a long way from the first Campus Party in 1997 in Malaga, Spain (which attracted 250 people) and has since spawned editions in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Ecuador and Chile.

Last year’s event in Berlin, Germany, received a hefty dose of criticism from the developer community, and Telefonica is clearly hoping that its investment in this year’s festival will benefit all parties. “This is a week of innovation, new ideas, excitement – we need to bring Europe back,” commented Telefonica COO Alvarez Pallete. “We desperately need talented people. I really hope by the end of this week we can say ‘Europe is back.’”