Good Practice: Wo­men Go­ing Di­gital

Despite the global advance of digitalisation, women continue to be underrepresented in the IT sector, both at universities and in the workplace. Only 24 per cent of all IT jobs are held by women- in developing countries as well as in Germany. At the same time, in a highly technological society, professions in the fields of IT, technology and digitalisation are becoming increasingly important. Due to the growing need for skilled workers, female experts in the field of digitalisation will be indispensable in the future. 

The goal of Women Going Digital is to make an important contribution to a more inclusive and equal (digital) world through the targeted promotion of women in an industry that will be very relevant in the future. The promotion of digital skills and the networking of women in the private sector not only strengthens the position of women in the workforce. Society as a whole also benefits from the new perspectives and innovations that result from broader and more diverse participation in the digital transformation.

In 2020, the AHK São Paulo, in cooperation with the Business Scouts, developed an online education course for women on 16 topics of digitalisation, which the participants complete within their own time frame in self-study.  After the successful pilot, the course was included in the permanent portfolio of the German-Brazilian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in São Paulo and was also introduced in Spanish in Argentina and Peru by the German Chambers of Commerce there. In early 2023, the roll-out of the training started in Namibia via the online platform Atingi. In Cameroon, also via Atingi, the French version of the course was launched at the end of June 2023. The possibility to complete the course online paid off especially during the pilot phase of the project, which took place in the middle of the Corona pandemic. The digital delivery of the content allowed women to optimally integrate the courses into their daily lives. Among other things, they acquired knowledge in agile methods, blockchain and 3D printing, information processing, e-commerce and cloud computing and received a certificate upon successful completion. From 2023 onwards the course will also be available in French. In addition to the German Chambers of Commerce abroad, other partners were involved in the various implementing countries. In Brazil, for example, SAP, Siemens and GFT supported the training, and in Mozambique the Centro Cultural Moçambicano-Alemão, a cooperation partner of the Goethe-Institut, was also involved in the project. The business contacts were arranged through the German Chambers of Commerce abroad. In addition, various companies, institutions and non-governmental organisations are involved in selected webinars.

Each time the Women Going Digital course is launched in a new region, the specific local needs and challenges are identified and considered to ensure that the content is tailored to the needs and requirements of the specific country.

Successful participation in the online training, which is flanked by accompanying workshops, enables women to have better job opportunities in the IT sector. The interest in the first project run was enormous: 1,000 women between 18 and 55 years of age had applied, 90 were selected in Brazil, ten participated in Mozambique. A total of 492 women (as of June 2023) have completed the course so far.