Tap tech to shine: Ivanka

Hyderabad: Batting for better policy initiatives to encourage women entrepreneurs and employees, Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump and his advisor, maintained that modern technology could be a great driver to promote women entrepreneurs, who were facing a variety of bottlenecks to stay afloat in the competitive economy. Women should make use of modern technology applications that not only enable them to overcome barriers for venturing into business, but also explore tremendous opportunities available globally, observed Ivanka.

She was speaking during a panel discussion titled ‘We can do it! Innovations in workforce development ad skills training’ on the second day of eighth edition of GES-2017 here on Wednesday. Ivanka spoke about increasing women’s participation in the workforce and enhancing access to skills training, education, and career counselling. Telangana IT and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao was the moderator for the panel discussion. Other panelists in the discussion included Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and founder of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and Karen Quintos, Chief Customer Officer, Dell EMC, and Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank.

Ivanka advised women entrepreneurs to embrace latest applications as technology can make job easier for them, while calling for closing the gender gap in workforce by providing women better access to capital and ensuring better representation in high-value industries. She has underlined the need for more progressive policies to address the stagnation, which set in a decade ago in closing the gender gap. She also noted that women dominate those sectors of the economy which are undervalued financially.

Highlighting the youngsters’ ability to catch up with latest technology applications, Ivanka said that she gets inspired from her six-year-old daughter “because she makes me realise how many ingrained biases even I have that I don’t realise that I am accidentally putting on my children. We have to do a better job of recognising that all women, whether they are working inside the home or whether they are working in professional capacity. I think we have to celebrate their decision.”

Ivanka has stressed the need to bridge the gender gap in fields of STEM. Cherie Blair made her observations on Indian women in the industry. She said: “The number of women employees is still very low in India. Without women's participation, there wouldn’t be economy development in countries like India. Women power is very vital for Indian economy. Micro loans should be made available to every rural women”.

Talking about the challenges that India faces in bridging the gender gap, Blair said that “only 27 percent of Indian women over the age of 15 are actually engaged in marketplace.” Quintos adds: “With changing time, reforms in industrial policies are need. Technology application are revolutionising the way we work and this is very helpful to women.” Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO at ICICI Bank, stressed the need for allowing women to work from home so that female employees stick to their jobs.

Steering several initiatives such as ‘I work at home’ for women to promote entrepreneurship in the country, Kochhar said that the organisations don’t have specific policies for women. “India needs exclusive policy support for women employees and entrepreneurs by creating a conducive environment where women entrepreneurs can feel confident,” she said, while adding that “majority of women abruptly leave their jobs during the pregnancy time.”