Business & Economy

Beijing conference addresses sustainable development, women’s role in innovation

Beijing, Jan 22 (EFE).- Chinese technology company Huawei held on Monday in Beijing the #Diversity4TechSummit, a conference focused on the role that women can play in innovation and global collaboration as a driver for sustainable development.

At the first symposium, entrepreneur Jill Tang highlighted the relatively high female presence in China’s science and technology sectors, something she attributed to “Chinese culture’s emphasis on education and academic achievement,” while noting the difference in the status of women between the Asian giant’s more developed and less developed cities.

“We have to work as global citizens,” said Tang, who called for “more international dialogue” to ask “what can we learn from Europe,” but also “what can Europe learn from us?”

For her part, architect Xenia Otmankhova emphasized the importance of “breaking with stereotypes,” because you “thrive when you are yourself.”

Otmankhova referred to the architectural profession, which she described as “in a transition” towards a “more human” model, for which “it will need more women to participate.”

In the second panel discussion of the event, hosted by Huawei Europe’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Berta Herrero, expert Kayla Chen said that the inclusion of sustainability in business plans “creates more jobs and needs more talent.”

Chen pointed out that sustainability is changing the hiring policies of companies, which will soon be joined by members of the so-called Generation Z, who “are concerned about issues such as diversity, mental health, and climate change” and look for “jobs that go beyond just being a job.”

Likewise, former Dutch Minister of Education Anette Nijs predicted that the new generations will have to face challenges such as discerning “what is real and what is fake” and adapting to a world in which “it is not enough to respect different ideologies, but one has to understand them.”

The event was closed by the head of science and technology at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, Adrián Gutiérrez, who stressed that “international cooperation is essential to find solutions” to problems such as water scarcity and climate change.

In addition, Gutiérrez referred to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, which, although it can “contribute to the development of many sectors such as medicine and the automotive industry,” is also “having an impact on our present” and is “shaping the future.”

The Spanish diplomat warned of the “potential abuse” of such technology, its “impact on work” and problems such as the lack of accountability of algorithms, and recommended “global cooperation” to address these challenges.

The event was attended by Nekane Estalayo, who represents Spain at the School for Female Leadership, which is sponsored by Huawei and celebrating its fourth edition with content “adapted to industry trends and what the labor market is requesting.”

Estalayo, visiting China as part of the program, is pleased to learn more about the Chinese technology giant in the Asian country, where “it is not seen in the same way as we see it from Europe” and describes the cultural exchange as “enriching,” while ensuring that, during her stay, she has seen “technology that has not reached Europe.”

The strategy specialist, a graduate in a double technology degree that combines Services and Management Engineering with Business Administration and Management, talked to EFE about the possibilities of doing “different things in China and Spain” due to issues such as “the differences that exist in China and Europe concerning data protection laws and the degree of standardization of information sharing.” EFE

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