To mark International Women’s Day, PAWA and the Nehru Centre hosted a panel discussion on ‘Women in the workplace: is technology a friend or a foe?’ on March 11th, 2020. The proliferation of digital and automation technologies will have a tremendous impact on the nature of work everywhere, and women will be disproportionately affected. According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, automation could force more than 100 million women globally to find new occupations by 2030. At the same time, advances in technology are helping to create new growth industries and potential opportunities for women. In India, more than 30% of IT employees are female, and in China, more than 50% of tech start-ups are founded by women.
This panel provided insights from Asia, discussed how technology changes every 4 – 5 years and the new skills required by practitioners and returners. Each panellist outlined their own career journey, highlighted key moments in their life when they had used technology to guide their professional life and shared advice on steps that young women needed to take in the face of increasing automation and the displacement of jobs due to new technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
About the Speakers
Diana Chan
Diana Chan is the former CEO of financial services firm EuroCCP. Educated at the University of Hong Kong and Harvard Business School, she worked for JP Morgan and Citibank across various locations – New York, Singapore, Brussels and Paris – before moving to London in 2005. She was on the Financial News’ annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance for nine years between 2008 and 2017.
Lopa Patel MBE
Lopa Patel MBE is a digital entrepreneur with significant experience of creating start-ups and transforming businesses through technology. The founder of two ventures in online media and a data-driven marketing consultancy, she is also the Chair of equality and inclusion think tank Diversity UK. She received an MBE for services to the creative industries and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion.
Debbie Widjaja
Debbie Widjaja co-founded one of Indonesia’s early start-up companies in 2013, building it to a $10 million valuation. She joined Facebook in the UK in 2016 to handle issues of hate speech. She now works at WhiteHat, a startup company whose mission is to empower young people who can’t afford to go to universities through apprenticeship programmes.
About PAWA
PAWA is focused on a single purpose: To support teenage girls education in Asia. Since its launch in 2009, PAWA has raised funds to help 19 grassroot projects in 11 Asian countries and reached over 7,000 girls. PAWA raises funds through its supporters, donors, events and online campaigns. PAWA aims to bring together individuals and organisations to help support a portfolio of small grassroot projects that empower women through education.
For further information visit www.pawa-london.org