The Mayor's Commission on Technology, and the Workforce 2000 Advisory Council is coordinating activities citywide for the 9th Annual Black Family Technology Awareness Week was held from Sunday, February 11, 2007 to Saturday, February 17, 2007. Activities throughout the city focused on helping African Americans understand how technology will continue to have a major impact on the way the work, live and play.

The purpose of Black Family Technology Awareness Week is to change how African Americans perceive engineering, science, math and technology. Education and preparedness are what we need to assure that African Americans will qualify and secure those jobs. However, they lack experience and exposure. New data from the U.S. Department of Commerce NTIA Report, "Digital Divide" show that "even though all racial groups now own more computers than they did in 1994, Black and Hispanics now lag even further behind Whites in the levels of PC ownership and on-line access."

Now more than ever we need to expand our awareness about the opportunities that exist in the technology industry. Events and activities were held in churches, schools and community centers in several neighborhoods throughout the city of Philadelphia.

The kick off luncheon was held at Thurgood Marshal Elementary School on February 8, 2007. The luncheon sponsored by IBM featured guest speakers from industry, academia and government. Lloyd Emelle (ECE) and David Delaine (ECE) presented an interactive demonstration on sound waves to the 300 participating students. After the formal presentations, Drexel College of Engineering students Quincy Brown (CS), Matthew Cathel (MSE), David Delaine (ECE), Lloyd Emelle (ECE), Manuel Figueroa (BioMed), Connie Gomez (MEM), Dara Kusic (ECE), Alex Moseson (MEM) served as technology mentors to the students at the tables. Drexel students had an opportunity to talk to the K-12 students about technology careers and preparation for college.

For more information on Black Family Technology Awareness Week please visit http://www.roundtheway.org/techweek/.