Session: Digital Economic Development led by Women using Cloud and AI technology
Let me paint the current landscape that we believe is going to constitute to global crisis for women in the upcoming years as a direct impact of the current pandemic:
Lack of Representation: 30 years ago, the computing women workforce was 36% and in 2019, that number has fallen to 27%. This has created a gap of 8M women in the tech workforce while every business on the planet is becoming a digital business driven by a pandemic.
Lack of supplier diversity allocation: Today, only 3% of corporate procurement dollars and 5% of federal contracts are going to women-owned firms. This situation is compounded by investors reducing their investment in women-led tech companies taking it to less than 2%. It’s no wonder that only 2% of women-owned businesses ever make it to $1 million in revenue, which is 3.5 times less than their male counterparts.
The increased displacement of women-held jobs: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due to the COVID-19 pandemic more than 2.2 million women were unemployed and it is estimated 180 million women’s jobs will be eliminated over the next 20 years as a result of AI transformation.
Bio
Using the power of AI, Cloud, and IoT, Chaitra Vedullapalli is fiercely committed to empowering business owners to access the digital economy through cloud technology. She is an author, speaker, change leader who has technology patents and is a TEDx and United Nation speaker. Chaitra also sits on multiple private and non-profit boards, including the Microsoft Alumni Network and PACE.
Chaitra Vedullapalli is recognized as an Influential Business Leader with a passion to enable digital equity and access to achieve economic prosperity in our communities. She is the co-founder and CMO of Meylah, focused on helping customers to modernize their business with cloud solutions. Vedullapalli is also the Co-Founder & President of Women in Cloud, drives global conversations with the United Nations and top corporations like Microsoft, IBM, Accenture throughout the U.S.
Globally, cloud technology is predicted to contribute over a trillion-dollar to the economy. However, in a space with such immense international potential, women are hardly represented. The landscape demands change. Recently, in her Forbes Technology Council article, Chaitra highlighted the need to incorporate Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity to propel the industry’s growth and sustainability.