Six months following Lord Davies report, only 33 FTSE 100 companies had set themselves any targets and of these only 10 targeted greater than a 10% increase. The Cisco Scottish Women in Technology conference at Eurocentral near Glasgow today will hear how Scotland’s technology sector is being held back due to a lack of women, particularly at a senior level. 

In this sector, women account for just 17% of all employees and this number is even smaller at board level, especially true in the technology sector although two outstanding women, Professors Anne Glover and Muffy Calder are advising European and Scottish governments in science matters.

Research shows that organisations with women in their leadership perform better, are more alert to change and innovation. European findings are that a single token women cannot help change organisation, but several women at a high level can make a genuine contribution to organisational advances.  

Silka Patel (right) who works for Cisco, Scotland has formed Scotland Women in Technology group to encouragemore women into the tech sector and to help develop their careers once in the sector.   Organisations in this group includes Oracle, Dell, HP, Scottish Enterprise, IBM, JP Morgan and Skills Development Scotland as well as Cisco.  The Scotland Women in Technology conference is about encouraging women's careers by boosting their communication skills.  

Keynote speaker at the event is (left) Catriona Campbell, founder of Foviance which works with 43 of the top FTSE 100 companies to help them improve the interaction between technology and people.  Foviance jointly developed the red button for the Sky remote. 

Catriona will share insights into how she progressed her career from psychologist to head of eCommerce for Barclays and GE Capital to now running her multi-million pound business in London and China.

Scotland Women in Technology is the brainchild of Silka Patel, an executive assistant at Cisco. She comments: “This sector is a brilliant place for women to work and progress, yet we are very much in the minority. With this group we hope to encourage more women into this exciting area, to develop their skills and so maximise the contribution to our economy.

“Technology businesses really encourage flexible working styles that are more family friendly and very productive.  For example, my line manager is based overseas, but I can communicate and work with him effectively using technology."

Polly Purvis, (right) executive director of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the digital technology industries said: "In the digital technology industry, women are severely under-represented generally and even fewer women have made it into senior management and the boardroom.  This impacts not only on the success of the industry, but on our economy as a whole.

"This stark lack of women in digital technology is set to continue unless more is done to educate, support and encourage women on the wide range of career opportunities that exist in both technical and non-technical roles. 

"Groups like Scotland Women in Technology are vital to encourage more women into the sector and help develop the careers of those already in the industry, to ensure more women take on senior management roles, right up to board level."