Social Media Week Lagos 2020

"Women Build Technology Too!" will thoughtfully examine the thesis that more Nigerian female participation in computing technology – especially in the age of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science – will lead to better quality and more inclusively-designed technologies. We will examine how the diversity provided by different female perspectives, experiences and skill-sets will only improve innovation and wider spread adoption of technology solutions.

Research shows that participation of women in technology (across multiple roles from developers, engineers, entrepreneurs and policymakers) remains incredibly low. According to figures by the US Bureau of Labour, only 25% of all computing jobs were held by women in 2015 (only 3% of those were Black/African American women). In Nigeria, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, women make up on average just 20% of the total number of people working in information and communication technology sector.

This under-representation of women in technology has numerous key disadvantages from the lack of diversity within development teams, which leads to solutions that don’t always meet women’s needs or cater to their realities; to a lack of emphasis of policy to create more gender equity within technology-related fields; and to the paucity of female role models, which discourages many girls from considering careers in technology. 

In this session, we will examine who is creating the technology we use, the type of influence they wield over the tools that we use and what can be done to increase the diversity of technology creators and developers. We will also explore the role that partnerships with corporate and public stakeholders can play in making these changes widespread and sustainable.

This session will bring together key actors (nonprofits and for profit educational entities) whose work centers on closing the gender technology gap by providing education, skills-building, mentorship, advocacy and other support aimed at engaging girls and women and encouraging them to significantly incorporate technology into their careers.