[EDUCATION] How to unlock inclusion for women in ICT, blockchain and Web 3
The Slovenian Digital Coalition with the Digital Innovation Hub and partners, including Blockchain Alliance Europe, organized the »Women For Digital« conference. The event consisted of three roundtables, one of which the BAE’s president led.
Women have influenced changes in technology development yet remain relatively invisible in occupations generally attributed to men. At the round table of Women in advanced technologies, Tanja Bivic Plankar hosted several influential Slovenian businesswomen with careers in this field who discussed good practices and projects for managing ICT organizations, introducing advanced technologies into business systems and educating for the digital age.
As a first guest, Ana Lukner Roljić (Truhoma) presented her views on humanitarianism and blockchain technology since the latter, by tracking donations, provides an ideal solution for philanthropy, which is losing trust due to lack of transparency and inefficiency.
Next, Urška Starc Pečeny from Arctur pointed out the challenge of establishing people’s trust in technologies. At the same time, Špela Ajdišek Robičs from Simens added that it is not technologies perse but the approach to how they are implemented that makes the difference and gives added value.
Apart from that, Maja Škrjanc from Institute Jozef Stefan indicated that the understanding of modern technologies varies among different stakeholders, adding that this can only be overcome by discussion, the involvement of various experts and placement in the education system from primary school onwards.
In addition to the pre-mentioned round table, two discussions on the management of ICT organizations and education were also held, led by Katja Mohar Bastar (DIH) and Marija Komatar (Pitea), respectively. For more information, visit this link.
On June 7, Blockchain Alliance Europe was also part of the international webinar Girls & ICT. Several female experts from Slovenia, Czech and Slovakia, presented their career paths and challenges. They joined the discussion with the participants, focusing on opportunities in the ICT field and exchanging experiences, observations and good practices. For more, visit the official web page or watch the recording.
Today, women are equal users of advanced digital services, blockchain and other Web 3 products, such as apps and platforms, and could be much more involved in such professions. In any case, employing and keeping women in decision-making positions in ICT requires a long-term national strategy and efficient planning among employers to avoid gender discrimination and prepare for their absence due to maternity leave.