What would we do without cell phones, microwaves, personal computers and all the other gadgets we take for granted?

Just how firmly embedded technology is in everyday life is the theme of Techweek, which begins on Monday.

The aim of the week is not only to highlight how technology impacts everyone’s lives, but to give companies and organisations an opportunity to show their wares.

The launch of Techweek will be at the Fairmont Hamilton, in the Harbourview Ballroom on Monday morning at 10.30 a.m. The event runs until 9.30 p.m. and the public are encouraged to come out.

Government’s Director of E-Commerce, Nancy Volesky, explained that the theme for Technology Week is ‘Everyday, Everywhere, Everyone’.

“It is such an empowering tool personally and professionally, so we felt that we had to do something where everyone of different age groups was involved and to really focus on technology, have a fun experience, and to learn new things in a non-intimidating environment,” she said.

“The aim is also to get the message out to kids that regardless of what career you embark on, technology is so important and you have to have some basic skills. So the whole week is ubiquitous, technology is everywhere and and you don’t realise its benefits to your life and potentially your livelihood.

“So it is to show that it permeates art, culture, health, fitness — all the sectors — and it is about driving us forward into the next century.

“It is a new concept in that it has never been done before, and really the objective was to create an awareness of how important technology is to everyone’s lives and how it crosses over every discipline possible,” she said.

“The whole Techweek, is a collaboration and a community project, which I am really proud of and enthusiastic about, because our steering committee is made up of most of the business associations, the Bermuda Union Teachers, the Computer Society, the Chamber of Commerce, the Bermuda College, the Ewan Sampson Scholarship, BIBA (Bermuda International Business Association), the Bermuda Employers Council, which really sort of points that these community groups really feel that it is important to have an initiative like this.

“And that is key in that it is a public/private partnership and that we are really all behind it and see the need to have a really strong agenda in Bermuda. We’ve gotten 14 corporate sponsors to date, which is really great because it is an untried event.

“It was not just all telecom companies and Bermuda Telephone Company, it was also the Bank of Bermuda (HSBC) and other reinsurance companies, like Ace and Max Re, so we are really happy that it is a broad range of sponsors as well.”

There are several initiatives in the works, including Techart, which opened last Friday at the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) and Techhunt, which is an online competition.

Techhunt is a way of encouraging people to get online, she said.

“Everyday there is a clue, so you go online and find a little logo on the website, which says TECHTIME, you click on it, put your name in and you are eligible to be entered into a draw,” she said. “Some of the questions relate to what’s new in Bermuda and it takes you to some of the institutional websites like the Aquarium, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Small Business Development Corporation, and some of our sponsors as well, so that they can get a return on their investment and people can surf through their websites to learn about their products and services.”

About 800 people are playing a week, she said.

The prizes for Techhunt will be awarded by the Minister of the Telecommunications and E-Commerce, Neletha Butterfield at Harbour Nights.

The prize giving for Techart will be on May 7 at a Wrap Party on the last day of Techweek.

There is also a People’s Choice There is also a People’s Choice Award, and they are asking the public to attend the show at the BSoA and vote for their favourite artist.

Another initiative is Techfit which will kick off at the End to End Walk on the weekend.

“Some of the walkers will have heart monitor watches,” Ms Volesky said.

“When they come to the end there is a contest on trying to judge people’s heart rates, because it is not always intuitive, because you can have a very fit 70-year-old, who is a lot fitter than a younger person.”

At Harbour Nights there will be several events going on, including Techtown at Number One Shed, which will include a Logic Communication Gaming Tournament and the finals of the Robotics Tournament, in which Lamone Woods is the instructor.

At the Flagpole, musician James Richardson is putting on the Music and Technology Concert, which Ms Volesky said: “This will also include an interactive component, where the audience can go up and see how technology impacts the music.

“There will also be a light show and lots of stuff for kids. It is really exciting because he is creating this whole funky technology show with music.”

There will also be Tech Teas for Seniors, because the aim is to encompass all levels of the population.

“There will be a lecture on technology that impacts them i.e. safety devices and things like that,” she said.

“That will be on Wednesday at Charities House and hopefully in the Cathedral Hall on the week of Techweek.”

For Middle Schools, there will be two evening Animation Workshops held at BUEI.

Then every day from 12 noon to 2 p.m. there will be Lunch and Learns, where the sponsors are providing lunches.

“There will be topics like, how to create a blog, how to programme your Blackberry, online safety and fraud, online safety for kids, a whole bunch of workshops,” she added.

“The bank is doing Internet banking, in different places. So for the people who are working, they can pop out for an hour and learn something new.”

The Techawards are aimed at encouraging innovation.

“In Bermuda we have a really good handle on the industry, but still there are some things that we (the Ministry) don’t know about and we’d like to draw those out, recognise them and show what Bermuda’s strengths are and the talent that the Island has in a variety of technology categories,” she said.

Bermuda ranks 15th in the world in e-readiness, according to the Economist magazine, and is third in the world for legal and environment relating to the Internet, she said.

“But where we rank low is in the category of innovation and e-literacy of the population,” she explained. “Innovation is based on patents and Bermuda, if we are lucky, has two patents per year and nothing related to technology.

“So I know we have stories to share and I know that the reinsurance sector does proprietary risk modelling all the time, but they don’t want to share that and that is so sophisticated, experts in the world, and we want to be able to say, ‘yeah it is two patents a year, but there are things going on.”

Dr. James Martin will be speaking at the awards presentation luncheon.

“He is a resident in Bermuda and he is passionate about technology and how it can advance the world and help with environmental issues,” she said.