In light of International Women’s day which was celebrated on March 8th to recognise women for their achievements. CIOAA was asked “How can organisations do their part to bridge the gender gap, in the digital and other areas?”

“Singapore has a long tradition of women leaders in tech (from the founding CEOs of IDA and GovTech to the succession of ladies heading IBM, MDs of Tech Organisations, to the female co-founder of Grab). We are optimistic that we will see more women in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) era. The new technologies driving the 4IR coupled with Singapore’s own Smart Nation initiative will further open up new opportunities and careers for data scientists, AI architects, UX designers, behaviourial scientists etc. Singapore’s small talent pool means the industry has to cast their net wider and embrace greater gender diversity, to attract the best available talent. On the supply side, we need to press in to encourage a greater female take up of STEM in our IHLs. On the demand side, the tech industry needs to make the workplace more flexible for women to balance their family commitments (especially if their children are young) with their work responsibilities and perhaps encourage the use of collaborative technologies remotely! Finally, the various grassroots movements including ‘Women in Tech’ and ‘Women who Code’ groups that have been formed are getting more active and will amplify the voices for greater gender diversity in our tech community. CIO Academy Asia salutes all the women who have made a big impact in the tech sector in ASEAN”