b'Women and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef (from left), seen with Kathy Knight, CEO of ICTAM, and Lori Wheeler, ICTAMs Chief Marketing Officer, at the Maven funding announcement.THE PARITY IMPERATIVEWhere are the Women in Tech?By Amanda EmmsI With the rise of technologies like medical 3D printing, Inclusion and diversity are some of the most popular buzzwords in HR right now, particularly in the technologyautonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI), the sector. There is a laser focus on attracting more women,world is rapidly changing. All this transformation means because gender parity is not only morally imperativeitsthere are more opportunities than ever to promote more good for business. According to the McKinsey Institutesvoiceswe just need to do it. John Stackhouse, Royal The Power of Parity, achieving gender parity by 2026Bank of Canada Senior Vice President, says for every 100 would increase Canadas GDP by $150 billion. So, how doAI professionals across the world only 22 are women.we shift from talking about the problems to making Techs current homogenous state comes with actual change? consequences. With an 80/20 ratio of men to women In response to these needs and with support fromcurrently working on AI research, there is a lack of Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Information andperspective. Long-term goals for AI include reasoning, Communication Technologies Association of Manitobaknowledge representation, planning, learning, language (ICTAM)a member-based organization committedprocessing, perception and the ability to move and to facilitating connections and elevating Manitobasmanipulate objects. Adding a broad range of perspectives technology industrycreated Maven. enhances the capabilities of future tech from phase one.Mavens mission is to attract, retain and advancePersonal bias is simply human nature and will always be women within the tech community. The initiative isbaked into development. However, if more women are not working with ICTAMs members to tackle barriers andincluded in the process, there can be disastrous effects. promote a healthy tech ecosystem. In 2017, Quartz writer Leah Fessler tested the response In our conversations with employers there is a desireof digital assistants like Apples Siri and Amazons Alexa to engage more women in tech, says Kathy Knight, ICTAMto crude and sexual comments. Instead of confronting CEO. However, barriers still exist that are keeping more of them from entering and staying in the industry. We needthe abuse, the assistants tones became subservient and to create the conditions and culture for women to each device side-stepped the harassment. Amazon made be successful. updates to address these issues, but having more women During True North 2019, President Barack Obamasinvolved in development could have prevented this in the Chief Technology Officer, Megan Smith, responded tofirst place.the lack of women in tech by saying there is no pipelineMaven is focused on addressing these systemic problem, there is a culture problem. Tackling thesebarriers. The Maven team spent their first year speaking systemic barriers head-on is how Maven can ensure resultswith women in tech, employers, educators, students and for a sector that is shaping our future.influencers in roundtable discussions across Manitoba. CanU participants learn how to create circuits with Makey Makey invention kits after talking about tech Kathy Knight, CEO of ICTAM (from centre left), andwith the Maven team. ICTAM runs ICT workshops Tara Brown (centre right), celebrate during the Mavenwith the Winnipeg-based charity to increase career Launch Party with other Maven community members. opportunities awareness for girls in grades 7-12.14 HRmatters www.cphrmb.ca'