Women in Technology 2020
Shout out to Ayumi Moore Aoki, Founder & President of Women in Tech, H.H. Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority “Shurooq”; H.E. Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Head of the Governmental Relations Department in Sharjah; H.E. Sheikha Dr. Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, first Ministerial post in the UAE, and H.E. Najla Al Midfa, Executive Director of the Sharjah Entrepreneur Center “Sheraa” and the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Complex for hosting one of the most interesting and talked about forums for 2020 and what will most likely still be discussed and influencing its attendees for a some time to come.
The Women in Tech Forum saw the attendance of prominent figures from global science organizations, women’s empowerment organizations as well as women entrepreneurs, the directors of Government Authorities and representatives from civil society all brought about by an incredible passion and hope to elevate women in technology fields.
This forum is the first event of its kind in the region. Its importance comes through focusing on women’s leadership in scientific research and technological innovation. One of the key goals was to highlight the role of women in technology and innovation, explore how they can enhance their impact at the global level, and maximize their contributions to social and economic development, as well as inspiring future generations of women to participate actively in building the country.
Key notes were summed up by H.E. Sheikha Lubna AlQasimi, calling on all female attendees to go back into their workplace and make time to mentor, train and upskill one female employee in their organization, and encourage women to push themselves further up the corporate hierarchy and into those senior leadership roles. Sophie Smith, Co-founder and CEO at Nabta Health reminded us of the ‘invisible women’ throughout history which struck a chord with today’s women in Tech and Business. There is a turn in the tide in the right direction and we all play a part if true and real change is to come about. Whatever the journey is ahead of us what is clear is that the Women in Tech Forum is here to stay and we will see many success stories originate from this initiative.
Senior female managers or leaders should explore promoting a policy or program within your organizations that focus on supporting female employees in having a vision and a voice whereby they are encouraged to ‘speak up’ in meetings, group discussion, company presentations and become visible within the organization as key leadership employees. Trans Skills are happy to support in-house training programs tailored to your company to enhance and encourage women into visible leadership roles with your organizations.