By Samar Yahya

RIYADH — Cisco Connect, a two-day event that took place in Riyadh recently revealed Cisco’s latest solutions and strategic partnerships to aid the Kingdom’s digital transformation journey.

In line with International Women’s Day, Cisco also held ‘She Makes Possible’ event on Thursday, uniting industry leaders, customers and partners to celebrate the achievements of Saudi women in STEM.

Wendy Mars, Cisco president EMEA and Russia region spoke to Saudi Gazette on ‘She Makes Possible’ event and what Cisco hopes to achieve with the event.

She said: “Our motivation behind ‘She Makes Possible’ is to create a movement for women — both young and old in the Kingdom, to start, renew or reinvent their passions for STEM and the future of the workplace.

“We know that globally, there is a skills gap — instead of considering technology as eliminating jobs, we want people to recognize the opportunities it can create. These opportunities include new jobs, which require different skills and ways of thinking. Right now, women are still at somewhat of a disadvantage — we want to create an equal playing field.

“Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 agenda is an ambitious road map, it helps people consider not only what a sustainable and prosperous future could look like, but also how we get there — with the contribution of society as a whole, both men and women.

On the purpose of the event, Mars said, it is to unite industry leaders to take responsibility and address these challenges. It is our duty to enable job preparedness for new careers and technology companies must see enabling the participation of women in the workforce as priority. This will benefit not only society but also the local economy as we seek to grow GDP.

She also spoke about how Saudi women’s participation in STEM is higher than the global average. “We want this momentum to continue and to ensure that women know they have a place in the field. Learning skills in STEM will inevitably help prepare the Kingdom’s women for a future knowledge-based economy.

On what Cisco has done to advance the national agenda and promote STEM in the Kingdom, Mars said “We’re currently working with Saudi Arabia’s national leadership on our Country Digital Acceleration program (CDA). The CDA is a strategic partnership with local stakeholders to fast-track the nation’s digitization agenda.

“In doing so, we hope to create new methods of value for the country, its companies and people. When we talk about value, our aim is to help stimulate innovation, disrupting industries and creating new jobs for the digital economy, which will contribute towards the Kingdom’s GDP growth.

“Our CDA program in Saudi Arabia is very closely aligned with Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program. We signed a MoU with the government and work closely to ensure we’re helping elevate standards across the nation’s chosen areas of focus.

“In Saudi Arabia, we have everything from the Saudi Virtual Schools project, which aims to increase student engagement and improve access to education, to a pilot program for telemedicine services, which connect remote citizens with urban centers, to ensure access to quality medical care is achieved.

On education, Mars talked about Cisco NetAcad program, which has been running for the last 20 years. The program is designed to train and upskill people in competencies such as networking, programming and cybersecurity. Globally, we’ve had close to 11 million students across 180 countries to date.

“In Saudi Arabia, over 135,000 students have been supported — with the country’s NetAcad program achieving one of the highest levels of female participants globally. In the last year, 35% of students were female. What we hope to do, is work with more local stakeholders to grow these numbers even higher. All of this will help create a more well-prepared workforce, ready to reap the benefits of digitization.”

On how the Kingdom is trying to create more opportunities for women and how the local stakeholders, private and public sectors would help, Mars said that each of these communities needs to come together and to be united in the approach if we wish to create better opportunities for women.

“It is important to recognize that gender imbalance is not an isolated issue, we see this happening the world over. Measures which have proved effective in other countries include compulsory government policies which support maternity and paternity benefits and also simply, equal pay. We need to be thinking about how to get more women through the door, but then also how we keep them within our organizations.”

“Businesses often speak about being agile — streamlining processes, making work more efficient and also where possible, flexible. This needs to be reflected within organizational culture. Employees should have options to work from home when required and to attend meetings via telecommuting.

“Beyond this, young girls and women need to see representation. They need to see people like them in senior roles, to know that their achievements are based on merit – not their background. Visible role models are crucial and those of us who are currently in such positions of leadership have a special responsibility to help others reach their potential.”

On what 5G would make possible for Saudi Arabia, Mars said that 5G is ready to create an impact. From increased speed, to reduced latency and improved flexibility of wireless services, 5G will change how we communicate with our loved ones, how we stay entertained and how we do business.

“At the end of last year, we unveiled a new end-to-end networking portfolio, which includes Cisco Silicon One — something we’re calling ‘The Internet of the Future’. The Silicon One hardware provides a programmable architecture, which will be the basis of Cisco’s routing portfolio. This is the technology that is ensuring 5G networks are not just a distant dream, but a reality today — with reduced building and operation costs.

“STC was actually our first customer in the world to deploy this technology and it makes sense. Saudi Arabia is home to a young population of early tech adopters and enthusiasts, who are open to embracing the latest innovations. The country also has a high Internet penetration rate, many of whom browse, communicate and share content via mobiles, so we know that connectivity is a key demand.

“5G will mean the end of interrupted video conferencing. It will enable managers to stay connected with their teams and share files in an instant – regardless of location. But 5G in Saudi Arabia is really a bigger picture. It presents an opportunity to enhance the use of AI, machine learning and automation, enhancing how citizens live and how businesses transform within a competitive marketplace.”