Silicon Valley is clearly a bit of a different scenario because so much of the local economy revolves around that industry but it is a big problem across the US as well.

The PIE: Is there a lot of activity in the US to try and engage more STEM-led students?

“Trying to get women into STEM has become particularly challenging”

SO: Yes, they are trying at every level through the education system. We partner with a number of non-profits that are trying to get hands-on science learning to children right at very earliest stages of their educational career. One organisation, RAFT (Resource Area for Teaching), is all about getting children excited about [science].

We actually hosted an event about Women in STEM for our clients and had someone from NASA come in to talk. Part of the problem is there are not sufficient role models in the press and the women often in science fields presented in media are often a bit nerdy… trying to get women into that field has become particularly challenging.

The PIE: Are there any particular countries where your clients are keen to embed their brands?

SO: When you look at a network like the Cisco academies they are really expanding across India and Asia and seeing a great deal of success there. When you look at the demographics, certainly from my experience being an expat living in Silicon Valley, there are a lot of people from those countries coming in.

“We are certainly doing a lot more in Africa and I see that being an area of big growth”

The PIE: Are you given any mandate in terms of where you should go and develop partnerships?

SO: Part of it is driven by ‘where are there opportunities for them to sell more of their products?’, obviously, and part of is it ‘where can we really make a difference?’ so we are certainly doing a lot more in Africa and I see that being an area of big growth. Also in South America as well, a number of countries there are really focusing on entrepreneurism and encouraging that as a way of really driving and boosting economies. That is something that we have seen really taking off in Brazil for example, so BRIC countries are where we see the most amount of opportunity but we help our clients wherever they need us to help them.