Johannesburg, 14 Sep 2016
MTN South Africa is actively encouraging more women to enter the ICT profession, through a range of initiatives designed to empower girls to embark on ICT careers and recognise leading women role models in the industry.
MTN South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati says MTN believes participation by women in the ICT sector is still too low, with only around 20% of ICT jobs in South Africa held by women.
Nyati believes this starts at school level, where maths and science education is challenged in delivering good results. "If young people associate these fields with difficulty and failure, they shy away from the subjects, and inevitably, from careers in these fields," he says.
Later in life, highly technical jobs such as tech support often demand that professionals travel and work shifts, conditions that are not always ideal for women trying to live up to society's expectations of their role as caregivers, he notes.
MTN is helping women to move up the ICT career ladder through increasing the number of bursaries made available to its own women staff - from 30 last year to 400 this year. The company also actively supports ICT education initiatives and internships focused on girls and young women.
Nyati believes an important factor in encouraging more girls to consider careers in ICT is to highlight successful women already working in the sector. This year's Women in ICT Awards, staged by MTN in partnership with ITWeb Brainstorm and Kagiso Media's Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio, is an excellent example of a way in which the ICT sector can showcase its leading women stakeholders, says MTN.
"We hope that these awards will give impetus to the advancement of women in ICT and enhance the value proposition of the industry to aspiring female professionals," Nyati said at the awards ceremony.
This year's winners in the Women in ICT - Partnership for Change Awards were:
Leadership Recognition Award: Aisha Mohamed, head of Bouquet 3, SABC 3 & SABC Encore
Head of strategic and competitive positioning for SABC 3 and SABC Encore, ensuring optimal delivery of programmes aligned to market needs, target audience, mandate and business objectives. Mohamed is a seasoned leader and she is passionate about her job. She trusts her staff and empowers them not only to achieve greater success, but also encourages them to go extra mile.
Innovator Recognition Award: Stephanie Cowper, co-founder and CEO, bespecular.com
Stephanie Cowper has just launched an app which assists visually impaired persons (VIPS) see through the eyes of sighted persons. This app is 'person to person' and not based on digital image recognition. A VIP takes a photo of something they need help with (from the colour of clothes to brands of coffee to the make of a car) and posts it on the app, with an audio question or a written one. This is posted on the app, and sighted people who have registered with the app receive a notification and can respond.
Community Builder: Dianne Broodryk, Newscast editor, Jacaranda FM
For 10 years, Dianne Broodryk has been driving the Good Morning Angels project on radio. In this time, she has actively connected sponsors and communities in need to ensure a better life for those less fortunate. Apart from organising events that have raised millions, she has personally overseen every contribution made to individuals, trusts and organisations. From limbs and operations to the giving of homes, her efforts make a difference on a weekly basis.
Outstanding Woman Award: Zimkhita Buwa, account manager, Britehouse
Zimkhita Buwa is an account manager at Britehouse, a division of Dimension Data. She has over 10 years' experience in the SAP space. She has worked for various large SAP customers and partners, including Engen, an independent consultant at IBM, City of Cape Town and as a SAP BI Academy trainer at SAP. She has been instrumental in shaping the African SAP User Group, having been a chairperson for its Analytics Special Interest Group. She is also one of the three African SAP mentors. She was part of the first group of South Africans selected for the TechWomen US State Department initiative, where she spent six weeks being mentored by women from major tech corporates. She is also a member of the Silicon Cape Exco, where she heads up the Women Portfolio.
The Entrepreneur Award: Irene Charnley, businesswoman
Irene Charnley first made her mark on the African business community as a negotiator for South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers, where she spent 13 years coordinating various divisions of union operations. She went on to become an executive director for the MTN Group, which is Africa's largest telecommunications company. Under her leadership, several African and Middle Eastern countries (including Nigeria and Iran) were connected into the MTN network. Charnley was the behind the founding of the National Empowerment Consortium, made up of 50% black business owners and 50% black African labourers.
Excellence in Journalism: Thabiso Mochiko, IT and telecoms editor, Business Day
A Johannesburg-based business journalist focusing on telecoms, broadcasting media and technology, with 10 years of experience, Thabiso Mochiko is an award-winning journalist, having been recognised for her achievements in "Telkom Journalist Of The Year: Best Newcomer 2005", in 2008 for "Siemens Profile Award: CSI Category" and in 2007 for "Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year - Runner-Up". The Excellence in ICT Journalism Award recognises a journalist who has contributed immensely to creating a better understanding of the ICT industry through their reporting.
Graduate Award: Sharon Rao-Farista
Sharon Rao-Farista is a graduate of Oxford Said Business School (2013) and most recently Harvard Business School (2015), where she graduated top of her class. She challenges her teams to deliver excellent work constantly and has forged a path in ICT that includes founding of events such as App of the Year and Mind 2 Machine, which promote excellence in developer communities.
The Women in ICT - Partnership for Change Awards also featured a discretionary category called Sponsors Leadership Award category.
The selection of the winner of this prize was the prerogative of both the CEOs of MTN SA and Kagiso Media. The winner of the Sponsors Leadership Award was Eileen Wilton, CEO of Gijima, in recognition of the role she has played over the years as a source of great inspiration to many young professionals and in recognition of the outstanding work she has done in turning around Gijima.
Share