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Philbin backs tomorrow’s world
Posted on 27th November 2018
Teen Tech runs lively one-day events helping young people see the range of career options that exist in science, engineering and digital. It’s led by broadcaster and Tomorrow’s World veteran Maggie Philbin. In a new podcast, Philbin explains how she is helping inspire the digital leaders of the future.
Inspiring the UK’s next generation of digital leaders is at the heart of Teen Tech, a non-profit created 10 years ago now by veteran TV presenter Maggie Philbin. Her first claim to fame lay in inspiring an earlier generation to see the exciting possibilities being created by science and technology.
Philbin was one of the presenters on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, a groundbreaking TV science show whose 38-year longevity gave it its near-legendary status in public broadcasting history. The show ran from 1965 to 2003, with Philbin its presenter from 1983-94.
Tomorrow’s World (pictured below, with Philbin second left) brought into the public consciousness inventions as diverse as microsurgery, robots and the Sinclair C5 electric car. Given that its on-air live demos saw more than just occasional misfiring of the tech on display, it was a brave decision of the BBC to revive the show this month for a one-off live special.
Since 2008, Philbin has focused on inspiring today’s young people about the joys of tech. Teen Tech also focuses on live events, bringing hundreds of schoolchildren together to witness challenges run by businesses and universities.
A Teen Tech Awards event honours young people aged 11-19 solving problems through tech ideas. Philbin herself was honoured with an OBE in 2017 for promoting careers in STEM and the creative industries.
In the latest and final episode of the first Digital Leaders podcast series, Philbin shares the importance of educating and inspiring young people into science and tech.
She talks about the impact that working on Tomorrow’s World had on her own beliefs about careers in science and technology, and how TeenTech is empowering the next generation of UK digital leader.
Core to Philbin’s approach is making an understanding of the future both accessible and exciting for the next generation.
The 10-part Digital Leaders podcast series features conversations with key influencers in the UK’s digital transformation community. The series has heard from some of the UK’s most proactive digital leaders as they share their passions for what they do, the impact digital has had on their work – and their thoughts on how digital will shape the world in the years ahead.
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