Over the next decade, emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) are poised to profoundly reshape the digital economy and the workforce landscape. The surging demand for digital talents has become a recurring theme in the current pandemic-laden era.
While Thailand is aiming towards becoming a digital hub in ASEAN, it requires a significantly higher number of digital professionals to reach its goals, in an equal and sustainable way. One vital solution to tackle this issue is to empower Thai women and young girls to take up more important roles in technology-related industries. As the world’s leading technology company, Huawei has a mission, aligned with Thailand’s ambition, to inspire and cultivate digital talent for the country, as well as to encourage women to tap into the ICT industry through the ‘Tech for Her, Tech by Her, and Tech with Her’ principles globally and in Thailand.
To respond to the growing trend of female talent in the industry-related fields, Mrs. Piyatida Itiravivongs, President of Huawei Cloud Thailand, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., highlighted Huawei’s mission to support women talents in the ICT industry: “Huawei always focus on equality. In the past, it was clear that the ICT industry was male dominated. However, we have seen more women joining the industry in recent years. Taking myself as an example, I have been able to take responsibility for Huawei’s cloud technology business. Huawei is always ready to provide opportunities equally, as long as you have the right knowledge, expertise and experience, you will always have an opportunity to take up a leadership role here.
She added: “Globally, 27% of C-level positions are held by female leaders, while in the Asia Pacific region it is at 26%, but in Thailand, the number of women in leadership roles is as high as 32%. This trend encourages Huawei to empower Thai women in the ICT industry further through various initiatives under the three core principles: “Teach for Her, Teach by Her, and Teach with Her”, which aims to provide more opportunities and platforms for women to unleash their potential.
Another key approach Huawei has been taking is to leverage new ICT technology, such as 5G, FTTX as well as FWA, to connect more unconnected women and bring them online. For example, by using an 5G Fixed Wireless Access CPE, students can enjoy an easy access to portable high-quality internet in rural areas, at home and in university.
Ms. Tiparada Thipboonthong, Human Resources Officer, Business Partner Unit and Ambassador of Huawei Thailand, further explained this commitment: “Huawei’s Human Resources policy is centered on the individual’s contribution to the customers’ satisfaction, not whether they are a man or woman. With our ‘Empowering Women Power’ initiative, we currently have more women taking up a leadership role with remarkable performance. As part of our ‘Employee Care’ program, we also provide additional welfare and benefits for women personnel, such as special events to celebrate any women’s celebration days. Finally, we provide ‘Digital Opportunity’ for students of all genders to participate in Huawei’s training program; ‘Seed for the Future’, which will be extended to those in marketing and linguistic fields in 2023. We hope to help these talented young people to prepare themselves to take up a digital career in the future.”
As the world is more connected and Thai society becomes more open with other parts of the world, people are developing new skills, and the new generation has become more talented. Huawei is looking to recruit qualified and knowledgeable people to join the company. The digital age will create opportunities for everyone regardless of gender.
According to recent data from the World Bank, the proportion of women working in technology-related industries is only a third (30%) of the global workforce. Whereas, in Thailand, women make up over 50% of the ICT workforce.
Ms. Montakarn Suvanatap Kittipaisalsilp, Associate Project Officer for Culture, UNESCO Regional Multisectoral Office in Bangkok, highlighted that empowering women to study in the STEM fields would contribute to gender equality in the ICT industry. She added: “UNESCO sees that Thai women have more opportunities to grow in the technology industry, as they are in a better ecosystem compared to other countries. And UNESCO is committed to support all women to take part in STEM fields – from education, science, and culture, and through teacher training programs, especially in AI technology, which is a new but important topic.”
Huawei has joined hands with key partners in Thailand, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO, to inspire and cultivate female talents for Thailand’s ICT industry through a variety of projects. Among these is the ‘Girl in ICT Day’, which aims to enhance the digital skill levels of female Thai youth through a series of trainings and knowledge-exchange sessions. The activities involve 5G, cybersecurity and cloud technology. There are also developer training programs focusing on 5G network development, cloud-based technology and other hands-on activities including trips to visit Huawei’s innovation centers and exhibitions.
Additionally, Huawei recently held the first ‘Women in Tech’ roadshow in Thailand, portraying inspirational stories from female role models and women in technology industry. The event also featured “Tech Talk” session, run by leading ICT specialists, and exhibitions for visitors to explore new technologies from Huawei. In 2023, Huawei launched the new project to cultivate over 20,000 cloud-based developers and 10,000 digital power professionals in Thailand within the next three years. For both IT veterans and young students interested in cloud, Huawei provides a free training platform and various events which includes Beginner Level and Expert level Course, Online and Onsite Taring, Hands-on Lab, Hackathon, Competition etc. All information is open to public at: https://developer.huaweicloud.com/intl/en-us/forum/topic/0206123266063716004
