18
de Novembre
de
2016 - 01:14
Her company is in charge of the main world event devoted to mobile technology to be hosted by Barcelona in February. The Lebanese Therese Jamaa is General Manager of GSMA, the organiser of the Mobile World Congress and on Thursday in the Woman Lider TIC she explained how surprised she was that "of the 100,000 attendees the fair attracts, only 20% are women." "It is very few, but the thing is there are no women in this industry because they do not want to pursue these professional careers, although there are increasingly more initiatives to correct these imbalances," she said in the event that the organisation Dones en Xarxa held at the Mobile World Centre in Barcelona.
Jamaa revealed two of the initiatives that will be unveiled at the next edition of the Mobile World Congress in 2017 in the Catalan capital: one is specífically aimed at women, Woman4tech, and the other at children, and above all girls, in the form of a second edition of the Youth Mobile Festival –the first of its kind in Europe- which in June was held in Shanghai. This second global event will include activities involving 3D printing, technology, drones, food and robotics... all things that could possibly help raise the rate of females choosing technical careers, which currently stands at 1 out of every 10 students.
"The reality is that the future is new technology. The European Commission aims in the agenda 2020 for there to be 90,000 new technology jobs and neither men or women can afford to be left out. But right now there is no parity: it is incredible that we still need these projects due to the lack of equality."
The female view from Microsoft and IBM
Like her, other top technology company executives lament the scarcity of females. Catalan ÀngelMoreu, Cloud Executive at IBM, thinks that the problem is at the base, "which we have to make between all of us. The positive side is that there are many companies, such as mine, that are constantly doing things to change this ratio. Yet it is not only something for companies; public institutions also have to play their part," points out Moreu.
An executive from another large company is also insistent: "Only 25% of women are in engineering but but what is most worrying is that only some 8% of 15-year-old girls are thinking about pursuing a technological career," says MontserratPardo, director of institutional relations at Microsoft Spain. The executive insists that in the company of Bill Gates there is a solid view of diversity as valuable, seen in that "if there are women, we reach the best positions."
Pardo, who boasts that in Microsoft some 36% of directors and the last three presidents were women, points out that there has to be parity in company recruitment. "You have to make sure that in Human Resources, in the final shortlist, there is at least one woman capable of competing with the rest, whether they be all men or mostly men and the odd woman, so that we ensure that if the woman ends up winning, it is because she is the best candidate," she insists.
The challenges of ICT
In an increasingly technified world, it is basic that everyone be involved, said the speakers. "ICT is 100% a part of society, now it does not matter what you study because you will end up working in ICT," says Moreu. And although it is true that "there continues to be a barrier", CeliaAragonés, director of marketing operations at B2B, insists that technology like Big Data helps to dispel stereotypes and prejudice. "Today we are seeing more psychological profiles, not only technical ones, because while the data is required so is interpreting it, knowing what you are looking for."
The myth of the coldness of figures they also see as conditioning the system. Pardo suggests that "no doubt women see technology as a colder thing, I also thought that but right now what keeps me going is the social and humanitarian aspect of my work. Technology has an impact on all levels and on society," she argues. Nevertheless, the stereotypes remain: "Sometimes I ask myself: Am I taking part in this event just for show or for my contribution?" says Moreu.
Jamaa revealed two of the initiatives that will be unveiled at the next edition of the Mobile World Congress in 2017 in the Catalan capital: one is specífically aimed at women, Woman4tech, and the other at children, and above all girls, in the form of a second edition of the Youth Mobile Festival –the first of its kind in Europe- which in June was held in Shanghai. This second global event will include activities involving 3D printing, technology, drones, food and robotics... all things that could possibly help raise the rate of females choosing technical careers, which currently stands at 1 out of every 10 students.
"The reality is that the future is new technology. The European Commission aims in the agenda 2020 for there to be 90,000 new technology jobs and neither men or women can afford to be left out. But right now there is no parity: it is incredible that we still need these projects due to the lack of equality."
The female view from Microsoft and IBM
Like her, other top technology company executives lament the scarcity of females. Catalan ÀngelMoreu, Cloud Executive at IBM, thinks that the problem is at the base, "which we have to make between all of us. The positive side is that there are many companies, such as mine, that are constantly doing things to change this ratio. Yet it is not only something for companies; public institutions also have to play their part," points out Moreu.
 |
| Roundtable with Aragonés, Pardo and Moreu, at the Woman Lider TIC. Ceded |
An executive from another large company is also insistent: "Only 25% of women are in engineering but but what is most worrying is that only some 8% of 15-year-old girls are thinking about pursuing a technological career," says MontserratPardo, director of institutional relations at Microsoft Spain. The executive insists that in the company of Bill Gates there is a solid view of diversity as valuable, seen in that "if there are women, we reach the best positions."
Pardo, who boasts that in Microsoft some 36% of directors and the last three presidents were women, points out that there has to be parity in company recruitment. "You have to make sure that in Human Resources, in the final shortlist, there is at least one woman capable of competing with the rest, whether they be all men or mostly men and the odd woman, so that we ensure that if the woman ends up winning, it is because she is the best candidate," she insists.
The challenges of ICT
In an increasingly technified world, it is basic that everyone be involved, said the speakers. "ICT is 100% a part of society, now it does not matter what you study because you will end up working in ICT," says Moreu. And although it is true that "there continues to be a barrier", CeliaAragonés, director of marketing operations at B2B, insists that technology like Big Data helps to dispel stereotypes and prejudice. "Today we are seeing more psychological profiles, not only technical ones, because while the data is required so is interpreting it, knowing what you are looking for."
The myth of the coldness of figures they also see as conditioning the system. Pardo suggests that "no doubt women see technology as a colder thing, I also thought that but right now what keeps me going is the social and humanitarian aspect of my work. Technology has an impact on all levels and on society," she argues. Nevertheless, the stereotypes remain: "Sometimes I ask myself: Am I taking part in this event just for show or for my contribution?" says Moreu.