Bev White

On International Women's Day, our CEO, Bev White, shares her thoughts on the progress (and lack of!) there has been in the number of women in tech. This article first appeared onComputing.co.uk. Although gender equality is still nowhere near where it should be, as we celebrate another International Women’s Day I put myself in the optimistic camp. There are signs of change in society and business and, overall, things are moving in the right direction – the question is, how fast can we make that change go? Technology lagging on gender Certainly, in my own industry of technology, change needs to happen much faster. TheDigital Leadership Reportthat we publish every year shows that the proportion of women in technology leadership roles and in the IT workforce as a whole is only inching up by degrees year on year. Our 2023 research showed that globally 14% of leaders and 23% of the workforce are female – these are the highest we’ve seen but there again the rate of change is glacial and they are far below where they should be. In fact, a sobering finding from theBritish Computer Society (BCS)is that, for the proportion of women in technology to grow to equal the 48% of women in the wider workforce, at the current rate of change it would take 283 years! I don’t know about you, but I am not prepared to wait nearly three centuries for women to have their rightful representation in the wonderful world of tech. It’s very frustrating to see such slow progress given how fantastically suited so many women are to careers in technology. Because there are so many different roles and skills needed in the industry – from technical skillsets through to broader problem solvers, communicators and creative thinkers – and women can tick all the boxes just as much as men. So why isn’t change happening faster in the technology industry? Partly it’s because transformation just does take time. There is no doubt that action is increasing at the entry-level end, and this is great to see. Initiatives like T Levels, the government’s digital boot camps aimed at Gen Z, and the growing number of schemes from employers specifically to attract a more diverse range of young talent, are all helping attract more young girls (and other young people from diverse backgrounds) into technology. There is further to go and more to do, but I am encouraged by what we’re seeing. Losing women from the pipeline However, the problem that we continue to encounter is that too many young women join an employer – and then bounce out again further down the line when their life circumstances change, perhaps never really returning to the professional marketplace. The middle and upper layers still need intensive focus. Because if we don’t fix that, no matter how many young women join at entry level, too few will make it through to the other side. There are many reasons why so many women bounce out. Sometimes it’s to do with the prevailing culture and attitudes of the workplace, which remain very male-dominated in many businesses. Often it’s to do with the struggle of balancing work with family and caring responsibilities which, despite societal change, still fall disproportionately on women. Changing the dynamic That’s why embracing flexible working is so important. This helps all of us, regardless of gender or other characteristic, to manage workloads and balance them with the other elements of our lives. It means that people can give the best of themselves and develop their full potential. But flexible working is only part of the story. More broadly, it’s about changing the dynamic, it’s a question of thinking about the structural governance and communication needed to create and sustain a diverse workforce. Sometimes this requires standing back and being very thoughtful and considerate about how, as leaders, you’re establishing the conditions where everyone can thrive. We had an example of this at Nash Squared which demonstrates the point. We hold all-company town halls once a quarter, and hold two events each time so that people from different parts of the world can join depending on what time zone they’re in. We have been holding these at 8am and 4pm GMT. But we noticed that attendance rates were a little below what we expected and hoped for: why was this? Discussing this as a management team, we realised that the times conflicted for some parents with school drop-off or pick-up times. We hadn’t properly factored this in. As a result, we are going to change the time for at least one of the sessions next time, and hope that this will enable more to join. Creating channels for diverse voices Another way of changing the dynamic is to give the opportunity for a wider range of diverse voices to be heard. Your leadership team may be lacking in some aspects of diversity – so look beyond your direct team sometimes and give other people the opportunity to step up and contribute in terms of reporting to the Board on specific projects, or representing the business to certain clients or suppliers. Look for that up-and-coming talent who can be mentored, supported and encouraged to grow – they will rarely disappoint! This can be a powerful tool not only for gender but other forms of diversity too. In short, it’s about finding ways of doing things differently. We’ve grown up as leaders in a system that’s very different to the one we need to create. So, we have to get used to trying new things, even if sometimes this takes us out of our immediate comfort zone. If we don’t do this, little will actually change. Reasons for optimism I said at the beginning of this piece that I am optimistic. Given all the challenges I’ve highlighted, you may be wondering why. Firstly, we’re seeing an improving picture across the Big Tech giants, with Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple all reporting progress in the numbers of women they’re recruiting and employing. These are brands that should be setting an example, and now are doing so through action and making their diversity figures publicly known. But a broader reason for optimism is that I believe there are more people who want the world to be a better place for future generations than those who don’t. More people than not look beyond outward markers like gender or ethnicity to see the capability and potential that’s there. That’s why I believe that we will make significant progress over time – even if I hope it doesn’t take 283 years. Let’s celebrate all the achievements and contributions of women this International Women’s Day – but remember that we should be doing that every day, not once a year. More accurately still, every day should be ‘International Diversity Day’. If that were the case, we’d soon see positive change accelerating and diverse people thriving in every walk of life. About the Author Bev Whiteis the CEO of the leading global talent and technology solutions provider Nash Squared. She stands as our visionary leader, renowned for her strategic prowess and transformative contributions to technology solutions. With a rich background in pioneering innovation and a steadfast commitment to empowering businesses, Bev has propelled Nash Squared to unparalleled success within the dynamic realm of digital transformation. Her unwavering dedication to excellence and the cultivation of a dynamic corporate culture have positioned her as a respected figure within the tech industry.

Nash Squared CEO, Bev White, takes out her crystal ball and shares her thoughts on what will be trending in technology in 2024. This article first appeared onComputerWeekly.com. Technology is moving and developing faster than ever before. What do the next twelve months have in store? We like to look ahead at the end of every year, even if we don’t always get it right.Last year, we didn’t see generative AI coming (just like everyone else), although we did predict that it would be a massive year for automation, robotics and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). We also predicted that balancing the digital and the human would be key – this feels like a more pertinent point than ever now. And that getting the hybrid/in-office working model right would be an important focus – and this has proven to be a big area during 2023 as Big Tech in particular has increased its push to bring talent back inside its walls. Here is what we see as five really major trends next year: 1. Generative AI will need time to hit the heights There is no doubt that generative AI will continue to be a hugely important disruptor as the technology develops and organisations deploy it into their operations. However, we believe that after the initial excitement and hype of 2023, people will begin to ask more searching questions around “What can we actually do with this?”.That’s not to say that genAI won’t lead to incredible things. But that the eureka applications of it may take a bit longer to emerge. AI will become more embedded into day-to-day technology infrastructure – integrated into browsers, search engines and databases – so that it becomes less visible. This makes it even more important to get the rules around it right. Regulation is expected to appear soon, such as the EU’s AI Act, and it will be vital that this provides clear guidelines around transparency, explainability and anti-bias and disinformation measures. 2. But we will see the first massive AI-generated cyber attack On the risk side, generative AI has obvious capabilities to help cyber criminals launch sophisticated attacks at scale. We are already seeing instances of incredibly convincing, tailored phishing emails that appear to have been generated with AI. In time, the success rate of phishing campaigns could leap exponentially, from the present level of about 0.1% to anywhere around 20%. Then there is ‘AI poisoning’ – infecting the content that is subsumed into the learning process of an AI algorithm so that it becomes untrue, biased or downright malicious. To this we can also add malware - it may not be long before generative AI can develop malicious code that is almost impossible to block.Malware potency could hit new levels, and the cyber industry will need all its skill and investment (and some help from ‘good’ AI) to combat it. When we put these in combination, it’s not difficult to see the risks that generative AI poses – and it would be a surprise if we did not see it harnessed to create a significant, disruptive and prominent attack somewhere within the public sphere during 2024. 3. It won’t all be about AI Although AI and generative AI will be dominant themes, other areas will continue to develop. We can expect quantum computing to grow as an area of interest. Our2023 Digital Leadership Reportfound that one in ten digital leaders globally are already actively considering its use, and quantum as a service (QaaS) is beginning to grow as an offering from the likes of IBM, Amazon and Google. If the cost of accessing QaaS falls, increasing numbers of businesses are likely to start using quantum computers to speed up the calculations and computations they need to solve key challenges.Uptake in quantum computing will be accelerated further if governments around the world follow the UK’s lead in committing significant investment (£2.5bn) in this area. Meanwhile, another non-AI discipline that we expect to see growing in 2024 is platform engineering. This featured at number 4 in Gartner’s top ten technology trends for 2024, and we agree it’s going to be big. Through platform engineers developing self-service infrastructure, templates and frameworks, it enables developers to accelerate their productivity and get to end results faster – at a time when technology budget growth is coming under more pressure, we can expect more focus on platform engineering as a way of bolstering ROI. 4. People will be frustrated about the lack of diversity progress in tech Levels of diversity in tech remain stubbornly and disappointingly low, despite efforts to change the position. Only 14% of tech leaders are women; while only around a quarter of tech teams overall are female and about the same proportion are from ethnic minority backgrounds. I think 2024 will be a year when increasing numbers of stakeholders within tech will lose patience with the glacial rate of change – and what I hope they do in response is to take control of the factors they can influence. That means making a difference on the ground, within individual companies and teams – reviewing not only the hiring policy and processes, but also questions such as ‘who represents our team in engagement with senior leadership?’ Try putting forward someone different, reflecting more diversity – and you’ll almost certainly find they do a great job and bring a different perspective to the Board, maybe changing their perceptions. It’s by building a wave, one team and one company at a time, that change will happen. 5. The heat will rise on sustainability The fact is that the tech industry needs to do more around sustainability and the road to Net Zero. One of the most sobering findings in the Digital Leadership Report is that the technology sector lags at the bottom of the pile in terms of having a Net Zero target and plan – 58% of respondents from tech companies said they didn’t have one, far ahead of the next two worst offenders, healthcare (51%) and business/professional services (50%). This position really isn’t tenable. The pressure will inexorably rise on businesses across sectors to report and disclose more around their sustainability targets and progress. The tech sector has to get behind this. The big players already have ambitious and far-advanced programmes, but we need to see more commitment down through the industry. Rather like with diversity, I hope tech players focus on some of the often quite simple things they can control to lower their carbon footprint: are there ways of cutting email traffic, taking off unnecessary attachments, is there a clear policy that devices should be turned off overnight (where possible), is travel being managed down with collaboration tools utilised instead? Look up and down your value chain and see where you can make a difference. Ask your cloud and data centre providers about their footprints and what actions they are taking. Embrace transparency and disclosure.As a sector, the time has come for technology to grasp the nettle. This will be placed under a fiercer microscope in 2024. 2023 has been a challenging year for many businesses. There are signs that conditions in 2024 may be modestly better, perhaps appreciably so in the second half. Whatever happens, technology will remain critically important to most organisations’ operating models and transformation aspirations – putting those technology businesses who are really focused on serving their customers’ needs in a strong position to flourish. About the Author: Bev White Bev White is the CEO of the leading global talent and technology solutions provider Nash Squared. She stands as our visionary leader, renowned for her strategic prowess and transformative contributions to technology solutions. With a rich background in pioneering innovation and a steadfast commitment to empowering businesses, Bev has propelled Nash Squared to unparalleled success within the dynamic realm of digital transformation. Her unwavering dedication to excellence and the cultivation of a dynamic corporate culture have positioned her as a respected figure within the tech industry.