ICTA (Information & Communication Technology Agency) organised Sri Lanka’s Premier Startup Conference and Expo, Disrupt Asia 2017 at Hilton Colombo in July 2017. This was the largest gathering of the startup ecosystem of Sri Lanka.
Gender diversity is not merely an opportunity for women but creates opportunity on a larger scale for companies, the tech industry, and the economy. Here are three major areas that are impacted by gender diversity. Revenue and profitability, meeting workforce needs, economic fairness.
According to research tech space is the only one where the participation of women has decreased in the last 20 years globally. Low levels of female employment and leadership in tech should signal alarm bells, and not just for women. Gender diversity is increasingly becoming an economic argument, not merely an ethical one. So why does gender diversity even matter, anyway? What’s wrong with having a 70% male dominated profession?
Apart from gender another overlooked point would be the employability of persons with disability, How can we make a better environment where everyone is treated in a similar manner?
“Diversity In Tech: How Well Are We Doing?” panel was moderated by Zahra Cader – Senior Manager – PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Other Panelists were:
Nayeni Fernando – Former IT head of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Hiranya Fernando – CEO – Careerly Networks
Yusra Aziz Eliyas – Founder – Podi Jobs
Manique Gunaratne – Manager – Specialized Training and Disability Resource Centre of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon.
Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:
1 All pannalists.
2 Closeup of Manique presenting.
3 Manique presenting.
4 Screen and the participants.
Manique Gunaratne
Blog: http://efcnetworkondisability.employers.lk/
