Black Web 2.0 on HuffPoTech

Earlier today we wrote about the Launch of HuffPoTech and the direction they’ll take covering Technology news.  They plan to cover technology and how it effects the people who use it and build it not just chase the news.  So I am especially excited because Robin Caldwell our Managing Editor will be contributing to HuffPoTech on behalf of Black Web 2.0!  She is leading the launch as the first contributor to the section (History ) and is serving as the opening act for a slew of heavy hitters that will follow.  You can check out her first contribution over there titled “Black Like Me? The Missing Faces in Technology and Innovation.“  Exciting stuff!

In addition, this opportunity forced us to launch something that we had not only been thinking about but had been working on for sometime.  It is nothing HUGE, in fact it is something that is small but had been missing as a resource.  It is called Color in Tech.  It is simply a directory of people of color inclusive of all races though is skews more African-American since that is our focus on this site.  It is pretty basic right now and Markus was able to put this together in only 2 days however, we know that it is a start to a great solution.  We run into people who often want to know where African-American’s are in technology.  They want to know where the start-ups are, and where the speakers are, and so on and so forth.  My response is I usually ramble off a few names or make a few introductions.  Collectively we all know where the color in technology is.  It is just to often locked in our heads and is only re-purposed when someone asks.  This is one of the main reasons why we’ve been contemplating launching this site and is the chief reason why we will eventually open it up so that it is editable by everyone.  We are hoping this will be an easy way (and a starting point and solution) to people becoming more inclusive in who they choose to feature, invite to speak at conferences, and so on and so forth.  We also think it will just be something that will be cool to browse through as well.  If we forgot to add you or missed you please don’t take offense, who we’ve listed is certainly not and end all be all, it is simply a starting point and the best we could do in 2 days time.  The list currently includes 100 people of color in technology.  Another important note is this list is not ranked at all so please don’t take offense to listing position as well.  We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!