For corporate success in SA, empower women The embracing of citizen developers by the IT industry could herald significant changes to the development of South Africa’s digital future. The question is, however, whether this future will be populated by more women.
Joanna Baidu (Sub-Saharan Africa Youth Lead at the Project Management Institute) believes that citizen development is a key factor in attracting more women into the cloud-based, low-code or no-code platforms to build applications. International Girls in ICT Day raises awareness about the urgent need to include more women in the tech sector. This year’s theme is safe and reliable internet access and digital tools. There has been a long-running conversation about inclusion in the tech industry. Many perspectives have been offered. Achieving this though relies heavily on employers’ intent on developing both grassroot and in-house technical skills of women and men to fill existing gaps.
Citizen developer programmes
According to Women in Tech ZA, only 23% of tech jobs are held by women in South Africa — out of 236 000 ICT (tech) roles, women occupy 56 000 of them. The citizen development movement, which is based on connected devices, has sparked innovation in software development. Easy to use MS Office tools, this low-code, no-code technology has companies turning to MS Office for rapid app development. The arrival of citizen developers has relieved IT pressure and added to the IT skills of people with formal IT qualifications. South Africa is experiencing a shortage in technical skills. Citizen development could help boost the local economy by encouraging more women to enter STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The citizen developer route can increase interest in technology and encourage participation by women in these crucial areas. McKinsey Global Institute, (MGI), says that every government should help its citizens catch up with the country in their region that has made the most progress toward gender parity. total annual payoff in additional GDP could reach $12 trillion in 2025. The key to advancing interest in technical careers by women, who make up just over 50% of SA’s population, is for organisations, schools, and tertiary institutions to actively promote the range of careers available in the technology world. “It is also about changing mindset. Digital transformation sounds dramatic, but it doesn’t just belong to IT. Baidu says that citizen development is an empowering tool that allows everyone to contribute to the movement. The World Economic Forum reports that 4/5 of local women are behind in statistics and maths, 2/5 in ICT and technology and 3/10 in engineering, manufacturing and construction. South Africa has more STEM-related degrees than women. PMI believes that structured citizen programs that allow everyone to participate in IT development will be equally beneficial for companies. Citizenship can be used to help bridge the talent gap, accelerate digital transformation, and allow everyone to contribute to tech solutions even without knowing how to code. Encouragement of employee participation in technology development should not be at the expense of security breaches, data breaches, and governance risks. Citizen development must adhere to security standards. A governance strategy should be established that establishes requirements for secure applications outside the IT function. “On the positive side, more technically aware and enabled people in the workplace will undoubtedly contribute to reinforced awareness and safer operational procedures. This means that employee knowledge about company needs can be capitalised on to produce enhanced outputs,” says Baidu. The potential for corporate-driven citizen development that is well-governed and managed is limitless. Helping women develop new skills and thereby reducing the traditional gender gaps through structured citizen development programmes can advance a company’s market performance and profitability. “Technology is an increasingly important part of our daily lives. Citizenship development and other movements must be encouraged and supported by all educational institutions and organisations so that women and girls can get an early start. The prospect of artificial intelligence having the same gender biases as humans can turn into a reality if we don’t encourage more inclusivity in ICT,” concludes Baidu. READ MORE: Why SA needs more women in entrepreneurship
