Ada Lovelace Day and a Vision for the Future of Tech

By Deanna Kosaraju
Global Tech Women

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

To celebrate the past, and honor Ada Lovelace, Global Tech Women will dedicate this post to the future of women in technology. What can we do to create a culture of technology that is exciting, inclusive, and puts the tools in the hands of people who can change their communities and impact the world?

1. Embrace multi-disciplinary thinking.  There are some hard-core people out there who don’t want computer science to be “diluted” with other teachings. Grace Hopper herself studied other disciplines throughout her life and used those ideas in her own contributions to technology. Computer science lives at the intersection of nearly everything else. Technology is the tool to enact change. It isn’t the change. At a recent Big Data Conference, the room was filled with mathematicians, social scientists, business people, and data scientists. They are changing the way we think about data, together.
   
2. Embrace people who are on the unconventional career path. Often times we get hung-up on who is technical. Did they come from the right school? Have the right classes? Did they learn about technology at the right age?  Leverage those who are passionate about a challenge! Who is willing to do whatever it takes to solve the problem? Let’s start there. 
   
3. Start with the “why”? Author Simon Sinek, “Great companies don't hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.”  This is the future of innovation and the new culture of tech.
   
4. Think globally. Many organizations focus all of their efforts on the United States or their corporate office leaving talented and driven people marginalized and unheard. Visibility is one of the biggest issues for women in tech around the world. Create a global plan. Most places don’t have one. Ask your organization if they do. What works in the US cannot be cut and pasted in other places.
   
5. Do the heavy lifting. The culture of technology needs to change. Invest in the people and processes that will create this change. Don’t throw all of your organizations resources into recruiting and do nothing to retain and advance your diverse team. Create a plan to remove unconscious and institutional bias, hold everyone accountable for metrics and measurements that reflect the type of organization you really want to create. This is hard work – if it was easy, the challenge would be solved by now. If you are looking for people to help you really change the equation in your organization, contact us. We will connect you with the game-changers.  If your organization is writing big checks and nothing is happening inside your organization, and all you have to show for it is a logo on a jumbotron, some new hires, and your executive on stage, think again. Stop calling it a pipeline problem while throwing money at coding schools to distract from your organizations problems and really address the issue.

We think Ada herself would agree. It's time for something new.

We will be talking about all of these ideas, featuring companies and people who exemplify the future of tech, and bringing the global community together at the upcoming Voices Conference the week of March 8th 2015. We hope you will add your voice to the global conversation! The deadline to submit an idea in November 17th. 

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