The latest participants of the “Empowering Women to Lead Digital Transformation” initiative have been gathered in person for the first time this week in Edinburgh.
The cross-industry “Empowering…” programme, which launched earlier this year and is supported by industry body ScotlandIS, The Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate and the Scottish Digital Academy, aims to build a collaborative and powerful community of emerging women leaders in digital transformation roles across all industry sectors.
The 3-month Programme is free of charge to participants, with funding provided from industry partners including The Data Lab, Head Resourcing, Scott Logic and Sopra Steria. This latest cohort saw record levels of interest from applicants, resulting in a full capacity cohort of 24 aspirational digital leaders, including representatives from local and central government, the third sector, financial services, energy companies, health, consulting and a range of digital solution providers.
In addition to forging new relationships and networks with their peers and starting their collaborative work to address the challenges they’ve been set, the group have also been hearing from established female digital leaders about their own personal leadership journeys.
The Data Lab’s CEO Gillian Docherty will be presenting today and sharing her experiences from a career spanning over 20 years of leadership in both industry and the public sector.
Commenting on The Data Lab’s support for the Programme, Ms Docherty said, “The Data Lab is delighted to be supporting ‘Empowering Women to Lead Digital Transformation’ for the first time this year. The programme aligns brilliantly with our work to inspire more women to participate in data driven innovation through initiatives such as Data Skills for Work and Women in Data Science (in partnership with CodeClan and Equate). Technology underpins our business and society, and it is critically important that as an industry we achieve a better gender balance – and broader diversity overall. The opportunities are diverse and the chance to work using tech for good or to make a difference to society and to the economy is significant.”
The Autumn cohort is due to run from September to November, with a joint graduation and Challenge presentation scheduled for early December. For more details on the programme and stay informed on developments for future cohorts, visit the website.