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Cisco wants more women in technology space

By Adeyemi Adepetun
15 March 2017   |   3:46 am
The Nigerian edition of the conference took place at Cisco’s office in Lagos, where several eminent women, business leaders and entrepreneurs from the region shared their experiences.

Partner Account Manager, Cisco, Funmi Adewole (left); Chief Executive Officer, MainOne Cable, Funke Opeke; Marketing Manager, Cisco, Morenike Alder; CEO, Life Bank, Temi Giwa-Tubosun and Account manager, Cisco, Ebere Nkoro, at Cisco’s 5th yearly Women of Impact Conference (WOI) in Lagos.

System Networking giant, Cisco, has advocated more and greater roles for women in technology development in Nigeria and across the globe.

This call emerged at Cisco’s 5th yearly Women of Impact Conference (WOI). The event, which coincided with International Women’s Day on March 8, was themed, “It’s Time. Collaborate. Lead. Inspire.”

The WOI conference, which has been a staple at Cisco for several years, is devoted to the professional development of women.

The Nigerian edition of the conference took place at Cisco’s office in Lagos, where several eminent women, business leaders and entrepreneurs from the region shared their experiences.

The conference takes place simultaneously across all Cisco offices around the world and is designed for women in IT, with the aim of uniting them all over the world, giving them a place to network, motivate and co-develop one another. The WOI conference is a free, global event that is open to all Cisco employees to help women in the IT field gain practical knowledge to help their careers.

This year, over 10,000 Cisco employees, partners, and customers from over 30 countries attended the conference via telepresence.

A speaker in the Nigerian edition of the conference, the Chief Executive Officer of MainOne Cables, Funke Opeke, argued that the role of women in technology and business involves inspiring not just the women within their organisation but also the men and women outside their professional environment.

“It is great to see companies like Cisco taking the role of women in the work place seriously and they are a few of the strongest advocates for women and what they have to offer in their businesses and this is inspiring,” she stated.

Speaking also, the Nigerian-American Health Manager and Founder/CEO of Life Bank, a social enterprise using technology and smart logistics to match blood to patients, Temi Giwa-Tubosun: “I do my work each day thinking about women and what I can do to impact their lives. And not a lot of IT and networking organisations in Nigeria celebrate women or even recognise international women’s day, but Cisco has continually shown its commitment to women and the value they provide in the technology industry.”

To the General Manager, Cisco Nigeria, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, Cisco is very good at leveraging diverse people, views and technology in order to solve the most complex of challenges in our society. “We believe that a company can highly hinder its innovation if it does not promote diversity,” he added.

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