IT summit at KAUST discusses steps to promote role of women in technology

JEDDAH: The presence of women in the field of information technology (IT) worldwide is still small compared to men, according to participants at the Global IT Summit at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) on Wednesday.

“Google has only 17 percent of women in tech jobs, Facebook has 15 percent and Twitter has 10 percent,” said Patricia Ann Hughes, vice president of human resources at KAUST, who moderated the “Women in Technology” panel at the summit.

One of the panelists was Omaimah Bamasag, associate professor at the College of Computing and Information Technology at the girls’ section of King Abdulaziz University (KAU).

She spent the last two years doing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

She spoke to Arab News before the discussion about what needs to be done to encourage women to thrive in the field of technology in the Kingdom.

“Students have to take part in the two-month summer internship program. We have partnerships and agreements with various organizations in both the government and private sectors to train our students, which is part of our requirements,” she said.

“The new initiative now is internships in the US. The first batch of students is going this summer to the University of North Carolina. It’s going



to be a tailored program for students to work on projects.” She said the college accepts an average of 200 students every year.

Lack of confidence among women in pursuing an education and career in IT was among the major obstacles discussed.

Amelie de Marsily, Cisco’s global enterprise services delivery leader for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia, said: “In Cisco, what we’ve been trying to do is have specific programs for young women to build their confidence and share their stories and challenges.

“I think for anyone to flourish, slightly more important for women, (there has to be) an environment of safety and trust.”

De Marsily said parents have an important role in empowering their daughters and creating an unlimited environment where they can choose and develop their strengths.

She added that boundaries are often self-imposed, “and I think girls very quickly put their own boundaries.”

Patricia Florissi, global chief technology officer at Dell EMC, said millennials will not have the same patience or tolerance that the older generation of women had in being a minority in technology.

“We as women know and see the problem, but we need the help of the majority. It takes two parties to actually change the world; cognitive diversity matters,” she said.