GETIT, Inc and Akamai Singapore
Singapore, 2016, April 26
On 26th April, 35 female ICT executives gathered to celebrate GirlsINICT Day in Singapore. The event was organized by GeTIT, Inc and lunch and venue was hosted by Akamai Singapore.
There was only authentic conversations, no stuffy speeches. Even the opening remarks by Lena Goh, Chief Marketing Officer of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and Rachel Fitzpatrik, Senior Director of HR, Akamai Asia Pac and Japan started off with personal reflections and authentic conversations. This set the stage for an interactive and insightful discussion with 4 ICT entrepreneurs in Singapore moderated by Laina Greene, CEO of GetIT, Inc.
The four panelists included: Ms Audrey Tan, founder of PlayMoolah, Ms Adrianna Tan, founder of Wobe, Ms Mouna Auori Langendorf, founder of Woomentum and Ms Aziza Sheerin, Director of General Assembly Singapore. All 4 panelists shared personal stories about how they got started in a tech startup and their personal journeys and challenges. Their honesty and frank openess led to an interactive and live discussion by the audience too.
Some issues shared included, work life balance, the need to encourage more girls into the ICT industry, challenges working in a male dominated sector and the future opportunities that the ICT sector offers to women and girls. Discussions were deep and insightful that no one seem interested to leave. Overall a great session and many have asked when the next one will be.
We are hoping that this session will inspire others in Singapore to hold similar GirlsInICT day celebrations all over Singapore next year. While Singapore has gender parity in education and workforce compared to many other countries, there still seems to be many unconscious biases and workplace settings that either does not attract more females or when it does attract females then retention in this sector is a problem. Something that still needs more study and consideration. More study is needed as to what is the right ecosystem for more female ICT entrepreneurs and employees in Singapore.
