Women's empowerment in the tech sector in line with KSA Vision 2030 - Middle East Business News and Information

Mid East Info

10-03-2025

By Fida Kibbi, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Communications, Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson Middle East and Africa
Saudi Arabia is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. In April 2016, the Kingdom's leadership introduced its pioneering Vision 2030 to the world, which seeks to build a thriving, diversified economy where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
In line with Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has implemented multiple enabling policies in recent years, and the impact on gender equity is already evident. The latest World Bank data shows that women's overall representation in the Saudi work force increased from 17.4% in 2017 to 34.5% in 2023.
The tech sector is a prime example of the Kingdom's growing diversity and inclusion. According to the Ministry of Communications and Information, women's participation in the Saudi tech industry stood at 28 percent in 2021 – higher than the European average of 19 percent, based on European Parliament data.
At Ericsson, we have had a presence in Saudi Arabia for over four decades, and we are committed to helping the ambitious nation advance its digital transformation and position itself as a global technology leader. Together with our customers and partners across the Kingdom, we work to equip local female talent with the knowledge and skills to contribute to digital innovation that supports the objectives of Vision 2030.
LEAP 2025 provided us with an ideal platform to reinforce the message that diversity and inclusion are essential for driving performance and creating greater business value, in addition to fostering better working environments. During the third edition of one of the world's most attended tech events that take place annually in the Saudi capital Riyadh, we hosted two sessions dedicated to women's leadership. We brought together high-level female executives from the Kingdom's ICT sector to share their personal experience as women in tech and explore ways of making the industry more inclusive.
In collaboration with our partners, we also organized the Girls in ICT event. We invited young female talents to visit our stands to learn all about the latest technologies and attend an informative session that aimed to encourage them to discover the world of STEM and consider pursuing careers in this field.
Education is the key to inspire and empower the new generation of women to become future leaders. I always believed that 'The future belongs to learners', and we all have a responsibility to play in in upskilling young female talents through graduate, internship and mentorship programs.
At Ericsson, we introduced the Gen-E Graduate Engineer Program, tailored for Market Area Middle East and Africa (MMEA). Gen-E, short for Generation Ericsson, has been designed to hone the technical skills of engineering graduates through comprehensive training on our technology, solutions and delivery methods, alongside the knowhow of our processes, tools and methodologies.
Our teams have collaborated with Saudi universities to provide young talent with world-class learning and career development opportunities. A prime example is the graduate scheme we launched at our 5G Innovation Hub in Riyadh, joined by 100 local fresh graduates from the nation's leading universities, including 50 women. This promising cohort is now helping us blaze new trails in the industry by developing a wide range of 5G use cases across diverse sectors.
We also offer students on-the-job training and mentorship through our senior specialists, in addition to access to Ericsson Educate, our digital learning portal that aims to strengthen ICT skills and increase readiness for jobs in our industry.
Furthermore, initiatives such as our Flash Forward Hackathon, run in partnership with stc, Vonage and King Saud University, enable young talent to actively participate in achieving the goals of Vision 2030. The competition brings together qualified mentors with the brightest minds from across Saudi Arabia to explore the future of technology in the Kingdom and give their innovations the space to shine.
On a global level, we are supporting girls' tech education through our flagship program Connect to Learn. To date, we have provided access to digital learning and skills development courses for 485,000 children and young adults in 43 countries.
By contributing to build women's representation in Saudi Arabia's ecosystem of innovators and creators, we are empowering female talent to make a significant contribution to shaping a sustainable, connected and inclusive future for the Kingdom.