Quest for Women in Technology –webinar emphasized the need for gender equality in business and technology

Organized for the second time, DEIK's Quest for Women in Technology –webinar brought together female experts in the field of technology from Finland and Turkey to discuss their experiences and insights regarding the role of women and women empowerment in technology. Among the panelists were Merve Nazlıoğlu, partner and CMO of Insider, Liisa Ketolainen, advisor to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland on Generation Equality, Ebru Bakkaloglu Tuzecan, Sustainability Coordinator of Koç Holding, and Marjo Miettinen, the Chairperson of the Board of Ensto. Ambassador of Finland to Turkey Ari Mäki and Ambassador of Turkey to Finland Vakur Erkul also participated in the webinar.

 

In the panel session, Merve Nazlıoğlu shared the success story of Insider. The AI-based marketing platform helps marketers to connect their consumer data and predict their future behavior with AI algorithms. 50 % of the company's employees and 60 % of the top executives are women. Nazlıoğlu talked about the low number of women in management positions in the tech field, the challenges women experience while looking for funding, and the challenges entrepreneurs face despite their gender. According to Nazlıoğlu, donating 1% of your time, 1% of company profits, and 1% of your salary like Insider does is a small sacrifice that helps to train female engineers and supports their entry into the labor market. She also encouraged to take the idea of entrepreneurship already to the primary schools.

Liisa Ketolainen stressed that all sectors must be involved in the change regarding the current gender inequality in tech. Finland is a co-leader of the UN Women's Generation Equality campaign's Action Coalition, which focuses on technology and innovation. Finland will raise awareness, share best practices, and collect data to increase diversity, inclusion, participation, and women leadership in STEM education and employment. One of the goals of the Action Coalition is to double the number of women in tech by 2026. Moreover, Ketolainen talked about Finland's initiatives and programs that support women entering the tech field. 

Ebru Bakkaloglu Tuzecan from Koç Holding shared practices that the company implements to promote women in tech. According to her, gender equality has been a focus area for Koç Holding for the past ten years. Koç Holding is also a co-leader of the Action Coalition in technology and innovation for gender equality. The company is committed to promoting women in their Koç Innovation –program, supporting women entrepreneurs and innovators, and supporting their group companies to give their global commitments to increase the representation of women in technology. The Koç Group companies are going to conduct approximately 30 programs to reach 500 000 women and girls, including programs for primary schools and high schools. Koç Holding will also conduct scholarship and mentoring programs for university students and young professionals to advance women's careers in STEM fields.

The last panelist, Marjo Miettinen, gave an overview of her extensive experience in the field of technology. Miettinen is a co-founder of Women in Tech Network in Finland, which was established due to the low number of women in the field. The webinar bore fruit immediately, as the Turkish and Finnish women in tech –networks decided to hold a joint webinar in the future. Miettinen also shared her views on how to support women in technology. In addition to connecting men and women in tech and mentoring programs, she encouraged everyone to ask themselves what they would do if they were not afraid and always say yes to new opportunities.

All the panelists, both ambassadors, host Halil Kulluk, and the moderator Erman Karaca stressed in their speeches the importance of gender equality in science and technology and the global need for more women leaders. As the ambassador of Finland to Turkey Ari Mäki said, diversity is always good for business.

You can watch the webinar here(Link to another website.).