The Future of Female-Focused Tech: How Innovation Will Serve Women In 2024
Ahh technology: The promise of a bright future, and advances that work for everyone. Right?
Well, kinda. In reality, the tech sector is heavily male-focused. While nearly 47% of US workers are women, women only hold 26.7% of technology jobs. And (one more stat incoming): Women buy or influence 85% of all consumer purchases…but 85% of product designers and engineers are men. So as we look ahead to a new year, we’re visualizing a more inclusive future. Let’s get technical ??…
PANEL'S IN SESSION
We wanted to know how tech execs see the future of their industry when it comes to serving women. So we asked two female leaders – Peggy Johnson , former CEO of Magic Leap and Emilie Bridon , Americas Channel Marketing Director in Consumer Sales Organization at 微软 – to tell us what they envision.
What role should technology play in helping improve women's lives?
Peggy: In very general terms it’s about access — access to information, educational resources, training, even healthcare. Tech can provide access to capital for female entrepreneurs and access to mentors for women in business.?
Emilie: Technology is like a magic wand for women. It opens doors to new worlds — be it through online courses that fit into a hectic day or apps that keep us healthy. At Microsoft, we've seen how tech can be a game-changer, especially in education and healthcare.?
How can we foster global collaboration and knowledge sharing to accelerate tech solutions that empower women worldwide?
Peggy: Expanding connectivity in underserved communities is key. Data is so valuable, it’s almost become a type of currency. With access to more information and data sharing, women can be further empowered to work together to solve issues specifically facing female populations globally.
Emilie: It's crucial to establish inclusive online platforms where women from various backgrounds can share experiences and insights and get feedback. Equally important is involving women in the creation and building of new technology, ensuring that these solutions are developed with a keen understanding of women's perspectives.
How do you ensure that the technology-based solutions you develop are accessible, affordable, and inclusive, reaching women from all socio-economic backgrounds?
Peggy: It is incumbent upon CEOs to make diversity a priority in their businesses. Not only is it the right thing to do, but creating products with diverse teams produces products that serve broader markets…so there are solid business reasons to do so. If you build product design teams with the same gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic background, those teams tend to design the best product for their specific group — which can translate into a reduced addressable product market.?
Emilie: We need to focus on scalable, cloud-based solutions, which have the potential to reach a wider audience, and more effectively meet diverse needs. Furthermore, it's important to consider different backgrounds, abilities, and contexts.
What are your predictions for the future of technology and its impact on women's lives?
Peggy: Technology will continue to democratize access to information, which will help increase women’s abilities to improve their lives across a number of vectors — from personal and family healthcare, to their finances, to legal support and beyond.?
Emilie:To me, technology represents more than just tools; it's a vital catalyst for change, particularly for women. It is exciting to see women not only participating in the tech world but also leading it, and I look forward to seeing this leadership grow even stronger.
领英推荐
CASE STUDY
If you have boobs, we don’t have to tell you that sports bras matter. A well-fitting one can mean the difference between cutting a workout (way) short and running a damn marathon (or your preferred equivalent). 耐克 knows this too. And instead of just talking about it, they got tech on their side.?
The Robot
First, you should know: There’s a robot named “Brabot.” Applause break. Nike designed Brabot to mimic soft breast tissue, so they can see where they need to make adjustments when testing different sports bra styles. But that’s not all. On top of Ms. Brabot, Nike also created Hayley – a mannequin that sweats like a real person. Mannequins, they’re just like us.?
The Results
By leveraging new technology to gather crucial data, Nike was able to innovate. Now they offer more than 70 cup sizes, as well as three levels of support —?light, medium, and high —?for all of their major bras. Bottom line: If you invest in tech to help solve a woman-focused problem, you’ll produce results (and products) that actually work.?
COFFEE TALK
Whether your “water cooler” is actually a snack closet or a craftily-named Slack channel, gathering with colleagues to share recs, swap links, and talk shop is one of the best parts of work. Here are a few things we’re chatting about these days.
That’s a wrap on our last send of 2023. Wishing you all an ignored inbox, an ironclad OOO, and a series of “let’s talk in the new year”s to send you sailing into 2024.?
?? Until next time,
Your friends at SKM Lab (who are we? Glad you asked)
PS… Have questions or want to chat? Reach us at [email protected].