IDC summit refocuses role of women in technology

The IDC Summit on Women Transforming Technology holding today will beam the radar on the critical role that women are playing in the technology space, the technology market research company says.

A stellar call of female business leaders across Africa and the Middle East will be speaking at the online event, the organisers say.

Announcing the event, IDC says that over the past decade, diversity and inclusion (D&I) have steadily gained momentum, shedding light on the critical role of women in technology.

“At its very core, digital transformation is about cultural change. Other than the technology aspect, the technology research company says, “it is change management, with a focus on creating a diverse organization.” 

IDC says its research reveals that over 80% of C-Suite executives think that D&I policies will have at least “some impact” on their business.

Diversity is Hot Topic in Tech Industry

IDC research also indicates that at least 35% of organizations worldwide have D&I requirements as T&C criteria for IT suppliers, underlining corporate commitments to strengthening efforts on social topics – as more clients want to work with partners and vendors who share their values.

“Diversity is a hot topic in the tech industry”, IDC says ahead of the event noting that “because it’s discussed frequently, it might be easy to feel like things have already changed. However, the momentum is still too slow in this region. Women remain largely underrepresented in STEM roles at about half that of male representation. Female participation in IT is about 35% with less than 18% in managerial roles.”

Compounding the problem, IDC research found that 51% of employers in the region are accelerating their digitalization agenda and 60% of employers intend to accelerate the automation of processes. 

“These changes are likely to do away with a set of roles that are increasingly redundant in the new future of work— and accelerate the creation of new roles. The distribution of female roles in IT is highly skewed towards the roles that will become automated”, IDC says.

Organisers announced that speakers at the IDC Women Transforming Teechnology Summt include Hajar Al Maazmi, Head of Information Technology at Ajman Bank; Eva Au, Managing Director, IDC, Asia/Pacific; Ghinwa Baradhi, CIO at HSBC – MENAT; Nagia El Emary, IDC Egypt Country Director & MEA Senior Consultant; Laila Al Hadhrami, Smart Cities Development Manager, Mary Conroy, Vice President of Marketing, Worldwide IT Executive and Industry Research, Events & CIO Executive Council at IDC and Abeer Khedr, Head of Cyber Security at National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Chair of the Cyber Security Committee at the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB).

Others include Meredith Whalen, Chief Research Officer and a Technology thought leader architecting innovative research to empower business transformation; Nani M. Butti, Acting, Director of Information System; Bennetta Raby, CIO Executive Council Coach and Pathways Faculty Member at CIO Executive Council from IDC and Kathryn Marston, Group VP of Client Experience & Operations at IDC’s CIO Executive Council.