On 24th October, EU-GCC Dialogue on Economic Diversification Project in association with the European Centre for Women and Technology organized a Women in Tech Forum at Expo 2020. Entitled “Women’s Path to Ikigai; Technology, Entrepreneurship, Self-Development, and Agility” the event explored how the ‘Ikigai’ concept and innovation for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Sustainability (DEIS) is particularly relevant to career and life planning via panels of women tech entrepreneurs that focused on the next generation of women founders and and how to initiate new partnerships between EU and GCC actors for new projects supporting female talents.
Eva Fabry, Director of ECWT stressed in connection with the event that “The European Union is a key partner in harnessing human potential and unlocking opportunities for all. Youth and women play a crucial role in creating sustainable and inclusive societies. Every Woman Digital project = SMART Growth which we now in the Post COVID recovery can make a reality through more intensive EU and GCC collaboration and through involving e.g., African countries also in our future actions”.
The panels covered topics with inspirational women discussing:
Self-Development: With a focus on Entrepreneurship and the need for autonomy, for a woman to become a “female leader” she needs to be able to develop personally as well as establishing and running a successful business. This panel explored how digital skills and technology supports women’s self-development and tech start-ups.
Empowerment Panel: The journey towards women’s empowerment and how every woman has faced obstacles and challenges along the way was the topic of this panel discussion. This panel explored how ICT Technology has helped empower women to understand, analyze and overcome the barriers to achieve their dreams.
Motivation & Passion Panel: Most successful entrepreneurs have found an idea that is worth investing their time, energy, and commitment to turn it into a business. This panel explored how women can develop the necessary drive to turn their ideas into reality.
Purpose Panel: Today’s world is increasingly being defined by concepts such as social impact and social consciousness. Therefore, for an idea to be successful it needs to be driven by an authentic and clear purpose; something that will make the world a better place for all to live in. This panel explored how to identify a purpose that matches individuals’ objectives and how to use it for the greater benefit of society.
Additionally, a workshop was held in the afternoon of the event to discuss certain key messages and to demonstrate the link between the different elements of Ikigai in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the role of Digitalization in the economies of the future. Participants saw this as an opportunity for women´s increased involvement in STE(A)M entrepreneurship leading to enhanced economic growth.
The workshop organized by the EU-GCC Dialogue for Economic Diversification Project, and the European Centre for Women and Technology welcomed the opportunity for participants to hear and be inspired by the success stories of women tech entrepreneurs from EU and GCC member countries.
About the EU-GCC Dialogue on Economic Diversification project
The EU-GCC Dialogue on Economic Diversification is a project funded by the European Commission Service for Foreign Policy Instruments under the Partnership Instrument.
The project contributes to stronger EU-GCC relations by supporting the GCC countries in the ongoing process of economic diversification away from hydrocarbon dependent sectors, including by funding regular EU-GCC Business Fora.
The purpose of this project is to promote climate-friendly trade, investment and economic affairs related policy analysis, dialogue, and cooperation between stakeholders from EU and GCC at both regional and country levels in the context of the GCC economic diversification process.
About the European Centre for Women & Technology (ECWT)
European Centre for Women and Technology (ECWT) is a European partnership of more than 130 organizations and 30 + national chapters in women and technology development from government, business, academia, and non-profit sectors.
ECWT serves as a European single point of contact for information, collection and analysis of data, research, and the development of appropriate methodological tools to attract more girls to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), for nurturing and retaining women in the knowledge economy. ECWT is endorsed by the European e-Skills Association as the leading community for women in tech in Europe.
