WHAT DOES A GOOD DIGITAL FUTURE LOOK LIKE?
At CAF, we collaborate with industry experts and leaders to ensure that we understand sector needs, concerns and ambitions in relation to achieving social purpose. We asked Doniya Soni at techUK to share her thoughts on ‘what a good digital future looks like’.
This week, new research has found that the number of European DSI (digital social innovation) organisations has nearly doubled since 2015. This trend is evident in not only the creation of organisations solely focused on DSI but the energy and focus tech companies are dedicating to social issues.
At techUK, my work is focused on the people element of tech – how do we get more people into the industry? How do we keep them? And what can we do to ensure that the tech workforce is as diverse and inclusive as possible?
I have met a range of individuals who are passionate and dedicated to the creation of a good digital future. While a good digital future can relate to a plethora of issues, one element we dedicate considerable time to is creating a diverse and inclusive culture in tech. We believe this starts with achieving gender parity in the industry.
techUK is working with its members to create tangible, actionable solutions that will address the issue. The projects that we work on are targeted interventions that address some core issues:
- Getting more girls interested in STEM
- Retaining female talent, including after a career break
- Challenging industry to self-assess their diversity initiatives
GETTING MORE GIRLS INTERESTED IN STEM
The number of girls taking computing at A-Level has declined by 70 per cent – and boys are four times more likely to take IT GCSE than girls. Therefore, it’s critical that we get involved early and give the advice and guidance needed to ensure girls consider STEM subjects as viable avenues for their futures.
We partnered on the People Like Me initiative with WISE. People Like Me empowers young women to understand the wonderful opportunities in tech. It works by first getting girls to define themselves through adjectives – such as imaginative, good with numbers or creative (rather than objectively as boys tend to). The tools then get them to translate those descriptions into types of worker, such as Explorer or Regulator, Persuader or Developer. This helps them to identify which STEM careers could be of interest.