Yahoo! India Research & Development hosted its first Girl Geek Dinner in Bangalore on June 9 at The Leela Palace Kempinski, Bangalore. More than 275 women technologists from organizations like Cisco, Netapps, Google, Microsoft and IBM came together for this networking event.

Girl Geek Dinner was organized by Yahoo!'s Women in Tech (WIT) group, a grassroots volunteer-led employ



e organization at Yahoo!. "The WIT agenda maps directly to our larger commitment to inspire and support the next generation of technical women. Events like the Girl Geek Dinner are our way of connecting and empowering women in the tech community to succeed professionally," said Aparna Ballakur, Vice President - HR, for Yahoo! in India.

After a successful ice-breaker - a "networking" variant of Bingo - came a panel discussion on the hot topic, Are women considered geeky enough to climb the corporate ladder.' The panel comprised well known names in the Industry and included Sucharita Eashwar - Senior Director, NASSCOM; Vinita Ananth - CEO & Founder, Vangal; Alka Agrawal - former VP & Head of India Development Centre, Novell Inc and Pragjyoti Nair - Director, Program Management and Business Operations, Yahoo!.

WIT, an important forum in strengthening Yahoo!'s inclusive community, provides inspiration and support for technical women across the talent pipeline, both within and outside Yahoo!. Apart from networking events, the group's outreach program also helps women on campuses successfully enter the IT workforce.

Bangalore is where Yahoo! has its second largest R&D center globally. Established 10 years ago, Yahoo! India R&D works with a mission to deliver product and technology innovation that create a significant business impact globally.Today, the centre employs a large number of Yahoos who are putting their passion to invent the internet of the future, and are engaged in end-to-end product development, from concept through launch.

The research arm, called Yahoo! Labs, focuses on basic and applied research in the areas of next-ge




to deliver product and technology innovation that create a significant business impact globally.Today, the centre employs a large number of Yahoos who are putting their passion to invent the internet of the future, and are engaged in end-to-end product development, from concept through launch.

The research arm, called Yahoo! Labs, focuses on basic and applied research in the areas of next-generation search, advertising and large-scale computing systems. The organization has nurtured one of the most talented teams of scientists, researchers, architects, designers, developers, product managers and engineers who are are working together to develop innovative technologies, products and experiences that positively impact people's lives. Bangalore centre is an integral source of intellectual property at Yahoo! Over the last four years, Yahoo's Bangalore centre has yielded a 50% average year over year increase in idea submissions for patent consideration. It has undertaken end-to-end development of more than 20 products providing best-in-class consumer experiences and online advertising products for both global and emerging markets. Some of its well-known products innovations are Yahoo! Cricket, OMG, Vertex, NGD Marketplace.