IT companies must change corporate culture to improve staff gender balance :: PublicTechnology.net :: e-Government & public sector IT news + job vacancies:

Engineering and IT companies must change their corporate cultures if they are to improve the gender balance of their employees, Minister for Women and Equality Meg Munn MP will tell The Royal Academy of Engineering at a seminar today (Thursday 30 November).

The Academy is hosting the third Equalitec Diversity Forum on Advancing Women in Information Technology, Electronics and Communications. "This sector is one of Britain's most vibrant and currently employs over a million people," says Meg Munn. "Despite this, only one fifth of the workforce are women. If the industry is to remain successful then it is essential that steps are taken to redress this imbalance. The position becomes even starker when you look at the predicted growth in the IT sector workforce, which is five to eight times above the national average."

A CISCO study in 2005 predicted that demand for people with IT skills in the UK will outstrip demand by 40,000 by 2008, which may force employers to recruit outside their traditional skill base. Around 18 per cent of women with children under five are working full-time and a further 36 per cent are working part-time. Employers will have to address the issues of work-life balance and working practices if they are successfully to address such skills gaps in the future. The Academy commends schemes such as the Exemplar Employers Initiative, which has collected over 100 examples to showcase best practice in companies.

"Changing corporate cultures is not an easy task," says Ms Munn. "But it is an essential one if the UK is to develop and sustain a flexible, highly skilled workforce to cope with the twin challenges of globalisation and rapid demographic change."

"The Academy is committed to enhancing the contribution of engineering to raising the UK's innovative performance," says the Academy's Senior Vice President Professor Wendy Hall, Head of Electronic & Computer Science at Southampton University. "To harness our full national economic potential in this way, we need urgent action to enable women in the IT and communications sector to use their skills and expertise effectively at every stage of their careers."

"Most of the computer products or devices that we use are designed by men, although half of the users are women," says Professor Hall. "People ask why we need more women in computer science, and it is because we need more women who can build and design technology products, as well as to sell and manage them."

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Finalists in the e-Government National Awards 2006
The Local Authority National Survey is now underway, asking all UK councillors and senior staff at the 467 UK Local Authorities their views and plans for 2007-8. The results identify Local Authority plans for investment in shared services to deliver the vision in the Local Government White Paper. Tickets are still available for the 17th Jan e-Government National Conference where the results will be announced.

89 finalists in 11 categories in the e-Government National Awards 2006 have been announced. The Awards recognise and praise the best strategies, achievements, teams and individuals in UK e-Government. Judging takes place shortly and finalists will be announced the first week of November. The Awards will be presented at a prestigious dinner at the Savoy in London on 17th January 2007. For details of booking seats at the dinner and conference please see this link.

The Awards are supported by the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit, the Office of Government Commerce, the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm), and SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers). Platinum sponsor is KPMG, and also a sponsor are SunGard and O2.