Recent Blog Posts
Diversity in IT
GUEST BLOG: In this guest post, Amy Franz, software engineer at DirectlyApply, talks about her journey into software engineering, and that often touted alternative routes into tech are not as ...
As part of the 2020 Computer Weekly diversity and inclusion event, in partnership with Spinks, we ran a number of workshops in the leadup to the day covering a range of different topics relating to ...
ITWorks
How the self-taught movement is opening the door to a career in coding
Business Editor 30 Oct 2020GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Layla Porter, senior developer evangelist at Twilio, talks about how in many cases developers are now self-taught. Coding is becoming an in-demand skill ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify, talks about her journey into the technology sector, and how others can consider a career in tech too. As a young girl ...
International Pronouns Day, which falls on the third Wednesday of October each year, aims to make it an everyday occurrence for people to educate themselves about, and respect, people’s personal ...
Now entering its 11th year, the FDM everywoman in technology awards 2021 is open for nominations. The annual event aims to shine a light on women making a contribution to the technology industry, ...
Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog
Tech CEOs call for global action against racism
Managing Editor 24 Jun 2020As the IT conference season heads into peak season, the CEOs of the top tech firms have used these large global gatherings as a platform to speak out on racism. In his keynote kicking off the HPE ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post Jess Jackson, investment director at GC Angels, discusses the difficulties female tech founders face when trying to enter the sector and find funding. The ...
The finalists for the 2020 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards have been announced prior to the awards ceremony and everywoman Tech Forum in March 2020. Every year the woman’s network, everywoman, ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Lucy Taylor, data analyst at Nominet, talks about her career path and how she moved from dancing to data analytics, whilst giving advice to other women ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Evgeny Shadchnev, co-founder and CEO of Makers, explains why lists like the UK Women in Software list are important for the future of digital I am ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Rhonda Textor, head of data science at True Fit talks about the changes she had to make to her hiring practices to close the data science diversity gap I ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Yaara Letz, partner consulting engineer at Tyk, explains why women in tech need to carve out their own career path rather than wait for diversity and ...
I went to a Code Club and polled the children in attendance to find out their opinions on technology careers, and I was surprised by their answers. There is a debate among those in the technology ...
GUEST BLOG: As companies continue to face an enormous digital skills gap, Helen Wollaston, Chief Executive of WISE, the campaign for gender balance in science, technology, engineering and maths ...
The Makers Academy coding bootcamp recently put together a list of 30 women in the software industry to showcase the sector’s female talent. Out of the many women who were put forward for ...
Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog
How racist bias is embedded in software systems
Managing Editor 20 May 2019The issue of racist bias encoded in software made mainstream news last week, with a report on Channel Four news highlighting how software for profiling criminal suspects, tend to have racial ...
Ex-basketball star, philanthropist and entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal made an interesting appearance at SuiteWorld 2019, not just to DJ at the show’s closing party but also to talk about his various ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed post Claudia Harris, the new chair of software bootcamp Makers, discusses the challenges and solutions to the UK’s tech skills gap - could encouraging more women ...
WITsend
FDM everywoman finalist profile: Laurelin Chase, student at Clacton County High School
Business Editor 04 Mar 2019WOMEN IN TECH PROFILE: Laurelin Chase, student at Clacton County High School and FDM everywoman in technology awards finalist in the “One to Watch Award” category, talks about the role models that ...
WITsend
FDM everywoman finalist profile: Nelly Kiboi, software engineer, American Express
Business Editor 04 Mar 2019WOMEN IN TECH PROFILE: Nelly Kiboi, software engineer at American Express, and FDM everywoman in technology awards finalist in the software engineering category, answers questions about her role ...
WITsend
FDM everywoman finalist profile: Megha Prakash, founder of Earthmiles
Business Editor 04 Mar 2019WOMAN IN TECH PROFILE: Finalist in the FDM everywoman in Technology Awards Innovator Award category, Megha Prakash, founder of Earthmiles and Earthmiles@Work answers questions about her role and ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed post, Patricia DuChene, GM EMEA and VP of Sales at Wrike, discusses the fine line between diversity and inclusion, as well as lessons she's learnt during her career ...
WITsend
Makers launches nominations for inaugural Women in Software Power List
Business Editor 11 Feb 2019Software developer bootcamp Makers has launched its first annual Women in Software Power List, nominations for which are now open. In partnership with Level39, the Women in Software Power List is ...
The finalists for the 2019 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards have been announced prior to the awards ceremony in March 2019 Judges have decided on the finalists for the 2019 FDM everywoman in ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed post, Clare Young, head of delivery at dxw digital discusses how tech careers are portrayed and what the industry needs to do to attract more women into tech. ...
WITsend
The women in tech debate: are we still in the era of unconscious gender bias?
Business Editor 01 Feb 2019GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Dr Joanne Phoenix, interim executive director at Sensor City asks how far we've really come in eliminating gender bias In recent years, we have seen a ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post Byron Calmonson, director at the resourcing hub, discusses strategies for 'smart recruitment' and how this will contribute to a more diverse and inclusive ...
Part of building a diverse technology workforce is creating an inclusive culture, which can be a challenge when a number of those at the top come from a position of privilege, and are not aware of ...
WITsend
Diversity in analytics: how to overcome the obstacles and optimise the opportunities
Business Editor 06 Dec 2018In this guest blog, Jennifer Major, head of internet of things (IoT) at SAS UK & Ireland, discusses the obstacles and the opportunities involved creating diversity in analytics. In the face ...
As the day dubbed “Equal Pay Day” approached in the UK, I caught up with Sarah Kaiser, diversity and inclusion lead at Fujitsu EMEIA, to learn more about the difference between the Gender Pay Gap ...
On 1 November 2018 Google staff from offices around the world staged walkouts to protest the company’s alleged poor treatment of women. Staff across all departments, in several cities globally, ...
Several women in tech spoke about the importance of diversity at Splunk.conf 2018 in Florida, some about shocking diversity statistics and others giving advice from one woman in tech to another. To ...
WITsend
In conversation with: Russ Shaw, everywoman male agent of change 2018
Business Editor 17 Oct 2018In 2018 Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates (TLA) and Global Tech Advocates (GTA), won the Male Agent of Change Award at the 2018 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards. Everywoman introduced ...
WITsend
Serious about diversity and inclusion? Set measurable targets or fail
Business Editor 16 Oct 2018In this guest post Byron Calmonson, director of the resourcing hub, claims the only way to ensure diversity and inclusion in an organisation is to set measurable targets. Are you getting fed up ...
Anyone who plays a part in promoting diversity in the technology industry will have heard of unconscious bias training, and earlier this year I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to take ...
In this contributed blog post Leon Brown, owner of Nextpoint, talks about the role exclusion pays in the technology industry's diversity gap. Attracting and retaining skills required to develop and ...
WITsend
Everywoman extends nominations for 2019 everywoman in tech awards
Business Editor 02 Oct 2018Everywoman is giving people an extra two weeks to put women forward to be considered for the 2019 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards. Now in its ninth year, 2019’s awards focus on the theme ...
WITsend
Why we need to focus on inclusivity as well as diversity in the tech industry?
Business Editor 01 Oct 2018This year’s Computer Weekly diversity in technology event focused on the importance of inclusivity in attracting and retaining diverse talent. Inclusivity can mean many things to many people, and ...
In this guest post Anna Faelten, associate partner at EY, talks about the difference in investment between male and female run startups, and how we can start to close this gap. According to data ...
GUEST BLOG: In this guest post Mark McBride-Wright, founder of EqualEngineers, talks about how the #MeToo campaign has impacted the technology industry The #MeToo campaign has become one of the ...
GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post Bryony Hill, Technical Data Scientist at Nominet, discusses the misconceptions around being a data scientist. When I tell people I’m a data scientist, ...
A backlash against a Fitbit feature which allows women to track their period has highlighted the need for more diverse technology teams. In the summer of 2018 Fitbit added “female health tracking” ...
In this guest blog post, student Abi Pearson describes how her work experience at industry body techUK made her consider a career in tech for the first time. I am a sixteen-year-old woman and I'm ...
In this guest blog post Jenny Kelly, client relationship manager - business partner at Computer Futures, talks about how companies can increase diversity in their organisation and end the gender ...
In this guest blog post, Vivian Chan, Founder and CEO of Sparrho, suggests three ways in which leaders can increase diversity in tech. Women make up the largest single economic force in the world, ...
In this guest post, Jo Morfee, co-founder of Innovate Her, discusses the UK's digital skills pipeline and how to encourage more girls to be part of it One of the main factors impeding technology ...
WITsend
Stem gender pay gap can only be addressed by closing the skills gap
Business Editor 04 Jun 2018In this contributed blog post, Simon Jones, innovation director at Black Pepper, discusses how closing the tech skills gap can contribute towards closing the gender pay gap. Nearly fifty years ...
In this guest post, Sheila Flavell, COO of FDM Group discusses the problems faced by women in the Stem industries. The gender pay gap reporting process has left many companies facing difficult ...
WITsend
The sky is the limit for UK tech – as long as we embrace diversity
Business Editor 22 May 2018In this contributed blog post, Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates explains that the UK's tech ecosystem has the potential to be the best in the world, as long ...
WITsend
Wise Conference 2018: The importance of calling out bad behaviour
Business Editor 14 May 2018The 2018 conference for Wise, a campaign for gender balance in technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem), highlighted some of the key failings of the Stem industries when it comes to gender ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
Why does tech recruit men who have a problem with women?
Editor in chief 11 Aug 2017We have read a lot about the issue of women in technology lately, since the publication of a dubious “manifesto” by a male Google employee, postulating that women may be biologically unsuited to a ...
In this guest post Jess Wade from Imperial College London describes her experience at an event designed to encourage millennials to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths ...
The issues of fake news are not new and democracy has always been a fragile flower, not a vigorous weed.
When IT Meets Politics
Trolls driving women off the web (and turning girls off IT)
Winsafe Ltd 29 Jun 2017Boys and older trolls are elbowing girls and older women off the Internet, just as they used to elbow them off computers in schools in the 1980s. During the first, and most successful, campaign to ...
WITsend
GUEST BLOG: What is being done to encourage more women into tech?
Business Editor 15 Jun 2017In this guest post Shirley Wood, training and support director at education technology solutions organisation, Jisc, looks at the positive efforts being made to encourage more women into tech While ...
In this guest post, Susan Bowen, vice president and general manager at Cogeco Peer 1 and new trustee at education technology solutions organisation Jisc, explains her journey into the technology ...
When Sanderson Hotel London invited me to a Code First: Girls introduction to coding event (including free cocktails) I decided to see if code still gave me the cold sweats it did at university ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
Three-quarters of non-tech workers want a job in IT - what's stopping them?
Editor in chief 04 May 2017For a long time, people working in IT laboured under the knowledge that nobody from outside IT was interested in what they do because it’s all too technical - a bit boring and geeky. It’s been ...
In this guest post Frances Burton, security services group manager at education technology solutions charity, Jisc, explains what it's like to be a "woman in technology" and why we should be ...
WITsend
GUEST BLOG: Why tech needs to think seriously about targets and quotas
Business Editor 30 Jan 2017In this guest blog Amali de Alwis, CEO of Code First: Girls and winner of the Women in IT Awards -Skills Initiative of the Year award, explains why the technology industry needs to consider targets ...
WITsend
GUEST BLOGS: How tech careers can fuel the change you want to see
Business Editor 30 Jan 2017In this guest blog Beverley Bryant, director of digital transformation at NHS Digital and winner of the Women in IT Awards Digital Leader of the Year award, discusses how tech careers can help ...
In this guest post Brynne Kennedy, CEO and founder of MOVE Guides and Women in IT Awards finalist, discusses how diverse tech cultures create the perfect breeding ground for innovation I recently ...
WITsend
WIIT Awards: MI6 chief reproaches “Bond” stereotype to encourage women into tech
Business Editor 30 Jan 2017MI6 head Alex Younger spoke to more than 1000 business and tech specialists at the awards ceremony for the 2017 annual women in IT awards. Younger claimed the secret intelligence service is ...
WITsend
Everywoman announces 2017 FDM Everywoman in Tech Awards finalists
Business Editor 09 Jan 2017Everywoman has announced the women who are finalists in the 2017 FDM Everywoman in Tech Awards. The Awards are held each year by Everywoman to showcase and celebrate the many women who are making a ...
The New Year’s Honours list released at the end of each year quite often features a number of talented techies, and the 2017 Honours list is no different. A number of great women in technology have ...
This guest blog features two women in tech from the same firm - product manager Therese Stowell and senior software engineer Maria Ntalla - both explain their career paths and how they became women ...
In this contributed blog post, Damilola Erinle, area vice-president for UK & Ireland at Salesforce, discusses why businesses should see gender diversity as a way to increase productivity and ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
UKtech50: Seeing the signs of optimism for UK IT in 2017
Editor in chief 09 Dec 2016Computer Weekly’s UKtech50 list of the most influential people in UK IT provides a fascinating insight into the big issues affecting the tech community, as we watch how the leaders who make the ...
In this is contributed blog post from O2's HR director Ann Pickering, she discusses the barriers women can face when trying to move up within an organisation - Breaking barriers for women in tech: ...
In this contributed post, Christine Flounders, regional manager for engineering at Bloomberg L.P. London explains the importance of diversity in open source. Tech’s gender gap is no secret. It has ...
Since Computer Weekly launched its list of the most influential women in UK IT in 2011, the number of initiatives championing and encouraging women in technology has grown enormously. Through ...
LinuxCon and ContainerCon North America this August (in Toronto, Canada) will include its first-ever Kids Day aimed at school-aged children interested in learning more about computer programming. ...
When IT Meets Politics
Why do we still have digital skills gap" when Harold Wilson identified both problem and solution?
Winsafe Ltd 28 Dec 2015The English Trailblazer apprentice programme requires adherence to the Skills Funding Agency Qualifications Guide This bars (Para 19) using the vendor or commercial (including those organized by ...
Management Matters
Want more women in technology? Alter the entire pipeline.
Business Editor 30 Jun 2015During London Technology week a panel on how to get more women into technology highlighted the importance of education, mentors and a change in industry attitude.
Open Source Insider
Red Hat: women in open source, anything less would be akin to proprietary
24 Jun 2015This week sees Red Hat host its 11th annual 'Summit' conference, exhibition, symposium, developer hackfest, analyst & press outreach session and all round communications to partners and ...
Your hashtag moments of zen are as follows: developers, women, android, women_in_tech, hackathon, droidcon, female_developers
When IT Meets Politics
If you want better security - employ women. If you want to win the cyberwar - employ women
Winsafe Ltd 24 Feb 2015That female ability to maintain security while also fighting and winning a cyberwar can also be seen with regard to the team which broke the Abwehr enigma codes, thus enabling the Double Cross ...
When IT Meets Politics
How do we break out of Groundhog Day and provide broadband and digital skills fit for ALL?
Winsafe Ltd 23 Feb 2015"Most of the basic skills needed over the next hundred years can be predicted with reasonable certainty but many of the precise trades and professions cannot. "Age related careers" is an employment ...
When IT Meets Politics
Who do you trust to retrain existing staff to handle that which you cannot risk to contractors?
Winsafe Ltd 10 Feb 2015But the travelling compliance "expert", who stays long enough to help you tick the latest regulatory boxes and collect the understanding and credentials to open the trapdoors in your security ...
The CloudStack Collaboration Conference & ApacheCon 2014 event was held in Budapest this month.
ITWorks
Solving the graduate STEM skill shortage: What can we learn from the financial sector?
Computer Weekly 26 Sep 2014A subject of much debate over the last few months, the CBI and many of its members agree that there is a severe shortage of advanced and technical STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
To every male IT leader - it is your responsibility to get more women into IT
Editor in chief 04 Jul 2014Congratulations to the 25 most influential women in UK IT - our annual list was announced yesterday, and it contains some amazing, high-achieving individuals (who happen to be women). The event at ...
When IT Meets Politics
Using the 1st Cyber Security Challenge "Regional Fun-Fair" to trawl the talent pool
Winsafe Ltd 09 Jun 2014Those seeking to double or quadruple the size of their security operations (in order to help clients handle the tsunami ahead) know that they have not only to organise in-house apprenticeship, ...
When IT Meets Politics
Why an all girls team is likely to win the cybersecurity challenge - if any enter.
Winsafe Ltd 17 May 2014The issue is to get the girls to understand not only why they are likely to succeed and to enjoy themselves but also the range and variety of constructive careers to which success will open the ...
When IT Meets Politics
A suitable job for a woman: fund raising exercise for Bletchley TNMOC educational programmes
Winsafe Ltd 12 May 2014Among the planned deliverables is a follow up to the award winning package of the history of computing targeted specifically at encouraging girls to appreciate that computing and security really ...
ITWorks
Nesta quiz reveals attitudes on innovation and technological change
Computer Weekly 16 Apr 2014Nesta has published research into Britain's attitudes on innovation and technological change, categorising respondents of its quiz into five personas.
When IT Meets Politics
Correction: The Bletchley Crypto and Sigint operations were only 73% female
Winsafe Ltd 27 Mar 2014Hence my comment that Information Security is an unsuitable job for a man and my strong support for plans to organise trips for schoolgirls to visit Bletchley and start preparing for the jobs of ...
When IT Meets Politics
The irony of exposing state surveillance between 70th birthday of Colossus and Safer Internet Day
Winsafe Ltd 11 Feb 2014I suspect that, were a survey to be done, more of the population (not just parents and grandparents) would say that the security services were not doing enough surveillance and spending too much ...
When IT Meets Politics
Men fight over Bletchley Park: where women won the war.
Winsafe Ltd 06 Feb 2014I hope their various accounts have been taped so that, when they are no longer available, more professional guides can give future generations a similar experience. I very much hope that Bletchley ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
10 things men in IT can do to help get women into IT
Editor in chief 10 Jul 2013We all know there is a problem getting women into the IT profession. I wrote last week that the only real solution to this problem lies with the men in IT - as the dominant group, the only way to ...
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
There is only one solution to the issue of 'women in IT' - it's men in IT
Editor in chief 05 Jul 2013This time last year, after Computer Weekly announced the first of our now-annual list of the 25 most influential women in IT, I wrote in this blog about why we don't want to have to write about the ...
When IT Meets Politics
Is redefinition of Systems Development anything more than a role grab by officials facing the chop?
Winsafe Ltd 09 Jun 2013It would be ludicrous were the stakes not so high. Science, technology and engineering skills, including those for systems and communications engineering, are critical to the futue of the UK.
Any number of surveys will give you broad brush summary stats on the dearth of women in professional IT roles.
Computer Weekly Editors Blog
Help us to recognise the role models for women in IT
Editor in chief 09 May 2013We're proud to this week launch our second annual quest to select the 25 most influential women in UK IT.The issues affecting women in technology have only become more important and high profile in ...
WITsend
Why 'Women in IT' need to understand the business world and widen their expertise
Computer Weekly 26 Apr 2013There is a lot of on-going discussion around the world about the current lack of women in IT. This inevitably leads to further debate around the lower number of IT qualifications amongst females ...
BCS (formerly known as the British Computer Society and now rebranded as The Chartered Institute for IT) incorporates BCS women
A core finding from that campaign was that when employers changed their recruitment messages to emphasise the use of IT to benefit users and society they not only got more women applying, they also ...
I am afraid I am veering away from my usual rants on SDN or mobiles to focus on a different sort of networking today, dear readers. When I came into the office this morning - somewhere I managed to ...
When IT Meets Politics
New Minister brings outbreak of common sense to UK Communications policy
Winsafe Ltd 30 Sep 2012The ability to demonstrate progress in delivering services, not just promises, may be sufficient to tip the balance in those broadband notspots where the consequent educational and economic are as ...