There is currently a general international consensus that there is a real and growing ICT skills gap among the young, especially young women. With only 20% of women in senior positions across industries, and only 3-5% of women studying ICT related subjects, and these numbers continuing to diminish, there is a growing view that it is time to embrace and support training and development of Women in ICT. The statistics are stacked against girls and women who aspire for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers – yet, there are women in leading roles in the industry who are able to act as mentor and advocate for attracting female talent to the industry.
The Connected Women initiative is an opportunity for some of the industry’s most successful women and men to champion the need to attract more female talent to the mobile industry and communicate the challenges and rewards, barriers, best practices, pitfalls and pinnacles. Anne Bouverot, Director General of the GSMA will be hosting the second annual GSMA Connected Women event “Breaking the Mould in Mobile: Skills, Innovation and the Bottom Line” in New York, USA, 10-11 October 2013.
The event is an opportunity for anyone, men and women, to join with their peers from leading technology and mobile companies including mobile operators, manufacturers and organisations from other industries, to explore ways to ensure that the mobile industry is fit for the challenges of the next decade and how it can become the employer of choice for the next generation. The event includes a thought-leading conference featuring top keynote speakers, expert panellists and interactive workshops. There’s also an evening cocktail reception and closing lunch.
The speaker line-up includes C-level executives from AT&T, Citi, Ericsson, Etisalat, the GSMA, GTWN, Qualcomm, Telefónica, and Zen Digital to name but a few. For more information on registering for a spot to attend, to express your interest in sponsoring, or to get involved in GSMA Connected Women, visit http://gsma.at/13Rkr1T