Cisco supports African women in IT

networking events designed to help talented young women in Africa boost their future outlooks, Justmeans reports.

This marks a significant milestone for technology in Africa and is testimony to the whirlwind of ICT developments in the region as well as Cisco's unique capabilities for bandwidth optimisation.

An inaugural event of Cisco's Africa Women Leadership Network Program kicked off proceedings in April, targeting young, talented women at college and universities throughout Africa. The session, moderated by ambassador Tebelelo Mazile Seretse of Botswana to the US, connected 77 women in Cisco offices in Lagos, Johannesburg, Tunis, Nairobi, Cairo, Casablanca and Algiers live to Washington DC.

Furthermore, to mark this year's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Girls in ICT Day, also in April, Cisco facilitated students from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE, virtually, via TelePresence to meet female leaders from Cisco, who shared their backgrounds and experiences and discussed how they had developed their own careers for their respective job roles.

The primary goal of Cisco's Africa Women Leadership Network Program is to boost future prospects of talented young women by exposing them to innovative technologies and to inspiring women role models who have positively impacted society, Telecom Tiger reports.

In the programme's first session, Seretse shared her background, as well as the decisions she made throughout the different stages of her childhood, adulthood and her professional life. Seretse also spoke about how technology has played a role in her day-to-day life. Cisco plans to run a series of further sessions throughout the 2012 and 2013 calendar years.

In 2010, ITU members agreed to recognise Girls in ICT Days on the fourth Thursday of every April. To mark Girls in ICT Day 2012, Cisco MENA region offices (Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and UAE) hosted 42 female students from secondary schools and universities who were invited to spend the day at Cisco offices to gain an understanding of the opportunities the ICT sector holds for their future and a deeper insight into professional fields and courses of study that may be overlooked when choosing a career.