LinkedIn, Dell, Facebook and Ericsson held the first ever MENA Connecting Women in Technology (CWIT) event in Dubai earlier this week. CWIT, a collaborative initiative which started with 15 technology companies in Ireland, was created to attract and retain women in the technology industry.
The MENA chapter aims to drive initiatives that encourage and support a culture of innovation so that more women enter the technology industry. The invite-only event was attended by 80 technology executives who took part in networking, workshops and panel discussions. The first series of inspiring sessions were held under the theme of ‘Diversity in Tech’ but simultaneously strived to connect and inspire women in different industries across the Middle East who also attended the event.
At Facebook, driving diversity is integral to our mission of creating a more open and connected world. Our Chief Operating Officer literally wrote the book about the importance of women leaning in, coming together, and transforming economies. The CWIT event is one of the many steps we take to fulfill that goal, said Amira Rashad, Regional Head of Brand Advertising at Facebook Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan.
There is planning underway to continue the dialogue on diversity in the workplace and CWIT hopes to introduce a number of initiatives throughout the year to encourage and inspire more women in the technology sector as well as other industries.
Other panelists who spoke in similar vein at the event were Amira Rashad, Head of Brand at Facebook and Stefanie Fernandez, Head of Sales Search & Staffing at LinkedIn and Gabriele Metz, Head of Talent Management at Ericsson. A panel session on “What about Diversity in Non-Tech Companies” with Delel Chaabouni, Chief Information Officer of Pepsi Co discussed the importance of inclusive workplaces in the region.
