Collaborate, learn and confront the barriers – UJ’s call to women in ICT
THE FIRST STEP IN OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO WOMEN IN THE ICT SPACE IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND CONFRONT GENDER PREJUDICES THAT LIMIT WOMEN’S PROGRESS IN THIS SECTOR, SAYS DR STELLA BVUMA, HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: APPLIED INFORMATION SYSTEMS AT UJ.
“ We’re seeing new themes coming out, like digital identity and online reputations, e.g. what I post on social media sometimes has implications for what happens to the organisation. The borderless nature of the internet also has implications for jurisdiction and law enforcement when a breach happens. Cyber law is struggling to keep up with the speed at which cyber threats and cyber problems are emerging,” she said. “So what does that mean for women in IT? It creates an opportunity for more participation from women across the business space, from technical areas to softer areas of IT. We’re seeing that some of the top consulting companies globally and across Africa are appointing women to lead their cyber security strategy. PwC, Deloitte, and Coca-Cola Africa all have women in leadership positions, and there are also many women holding the top editorial roles in academic journals focused on cybersecurity,” said Dr Isabirye.
Executive Director of Soma Solutions, Marilyn Radebe, said the key to success in an ICT business was “collaboration (with other providers), and route to customer”. “You can come up with any innovation, any platform, any device, but if a customer is not available, and able and willing to pay for that service, it’s neither here nor there.” Karabo Maloka, MC and Facilitator Ambassador of the UJ’s Technopreurship Centre, closed off the discussion by calling on young women to pursue STEM subjects, which would lay the groundwork for the future of ICT mentorship by and for women. Internships and scholarships specifically for women were also critical if women were to “take up the space and discuss (these) skills”, she said. To watch the webinar, click here.
“These (gender) biases present themselves in various ways, such as being passed over for promotions or struggling to be taken seriously, particularly in leadership roles,” Dr Bvuma said during UJ Alumni’s Women in ICT webinar, held on 31 August, in collaboration with the Department of Applied Information Systems in the School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems. Dr Bvuma said the key to overcoming these barriers was to “learn from one another, empower each other by interacting with women in the ICT space, and be deliberate about how we then gear the mentoring programmes, specifically for women”. Turning to the theme of women in softer areas of IT, particularly cybersecurity, Dr Naomi Isabirye, Senior Lecturer at Wits University, said cybersecurity was fast moving out of the technical sphere and into all areas of business.
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ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
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