This is a Guest Blog post by Dania Al Kadi
Technology is a woman: she is the ultimate multitasker and helps men communicate, but if so why are there such few women in the technology industry?
One can count many barriers, but maybe the biggest are perceived gender roles: computer studies, like other sciences, are regarded as a male pursuit and most little girls are taught early on in life to look the other way for their education and their interests.
Yet, the past decade and more specifically the advent of web 2.0 have changed all this. The internet revolution allowed computers into millions of households, and mobile telephony placed powerful communication devices in most people’s pockets. Today, the PC and the mobile phone have converged and technology permeates everything we do: from college students conducting research in Harvard to farmers checking market prices or the weather forecast in rural India.
For us women, this means empowerment at all levels: technology is no longer a subject to be studied in school but a natural enabler to life. Whether you are a hard core engineer passionate about building the latest gadget or a “sitt beyt” who wants to share her thoughts, child rearing tips or recipes on-line, having technology skills will enable you to achieve your goal and reach out to the wider world.
Of all the developments currently taking place, mobile applications are the most exciting and they’re full of promise for the entrepreneurial woman. Requiring relatively limited software development skills, mobile apps provide creative minds with the opportunity to turn any idea, small or big, into an application that can be published and marketed directly to consumers.
So do you have a good suggestion about how to place orders with suppliers on the go, or avoid rush hour traffic in your city, maybe you’ve created a nice game for your children that can be digitized and enjoyed by other kids? Now is the time to go for it, especially inLebanon and the Arab world, where we have the opportunity to create a lot of regionally relevant content in Arabic. An enormous amount of resources and information is available on-line to help you get started and if you feel you don’t have the right skill sets for softwaredevelopment, a simple training program will enable you to acquire the knowledge you need to be a mover and shaker in the next wave of digital transformation.
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About Dania:
Based in London, Dania El-Kadi works for Nokia as Senior Marketing Manager in the Global Marketing Activation team where she’s responsible for driving the company’s marketing deployment strategies for email and business. Prior to relocating to the UK, Dania headed Nokia’s enterprise solutions marketing in the Middle East and Africa.
Dania held several positions in the IT industry before joining Nokia, including Marketing and PR management roles for Intel Corporation in the Middle East and North Africa.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University of Beirut and misses Lebanon every day
