Two weeks ago, Atlanta hosted the 3rd annual global Connected Women event, titled ‘Accelerating the Rise of the Female Digital Economy’. The event attracted a host of speakers from different industries to discuss a wide range of subject areas including the digital skills gap, how to attract and retain female talent, the challenges and the barriers to access and the need to close the gender gap in low-to-middle income countries.
Vicky Sleight, Senior Director, Membership and Connected Women, opened the event and shared her perspectives on why the female digital economy is important to the future growth of the mobile industry. She also touched on the need to attract more young people, girls in particular, to study STEM, those subjects critical to the success of the mobile industry, underlining the need to demystify those subjects and highlight the careers available for individuals with these skill sets.
Following on, Meredith Baker, CEO of CTIA, discussed the business imperative for more women in the industry and how there is a very obvious need to bring diverse people together and challenge them to do things differently. Baker noted that women are now able to be authentic in the workplace and industry should foster a changed environment, attracting women from other industries, including health and education.
Delegates also were given a unique insight from Sheryl Connelly, FMC Global Trends Futuring Manager, Ford, as she talked about the requirement to future-proof your plans. She underlined this by explaining that in the three years it takes to build a car, all the thought and design that goes into that car becomes obsolete during the process and by the time it’s built, it’s no longer forward-thinking. The key takeaway from this was the need to consider if your plans are robust enough to weather the future.
Further speakers from AT Kearney, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Intel, MasterCard and Qualcomm outlined the importance of encouraging more women within the mobile industry at all levels, while David Thodey and Kate McKenzie, CEO and COO of Telstra respectively, sent a video message to highlight the importance of the initiative they are driving in Australia called “Male Champions for Change” – this video can be seen in the recorded coverage of the event, found here.
It was also inspiring to see young people just starting in their careers networking with successful men and women as the sun came down on the closing networking drinks sponsored by MasterCard. Many delegates left with new connections and friends, as well as being inspired and ready to go back to their businesses, hopefully with new learnings and best practices.
If you’re interested in the Connected Women event and want to hear more of what was covered in Atlanta, you can see the recordings of the entire event here. We’re now looking forward to the next Connected Women event, co-located with Mobile 360-Africa in Cape Town in November. If you want to take part, then please head over here and register.