ICT Industry Questions Women’s Role in the Sector

The events of the World Telecommunication Day, which is celebrated on the 17th May of every year in Turkey with all the world, was organized by TUTED (All Telecommunications Businessmen’s Association) with the theme of ‘The Role and Impact of the Women in ICT industry’ in Izmir, Turkey.

The event which was sponsored by Avea, Turkcell, Turk Telecom, Turksat and Vodafone hosted Mr. Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, Mr. Tayfun Acarer, the president of Information Technologies and Communication Institution (BTK) and the key persons of information and communication industry in Turkey. The speakers emphasized the importance of women’s employment for the economy of the country.

The event was opened with the speeches of Mr. Adil Zafer Müftüoğlu, TÜTED chair of the board and Mr. Binali Yıldırım, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. Mr. Müftüoğlu wished that this event would be effective for the development of the impact of the women in ICT industry. Mr. Binali Yıldırım stated ‘the ratio of the internet usage among women between 16-74 years of age in our country is 35,3% and it is 54,9% for the men. This ratio was 9.6% for men and 4.33% for women in 2005.’ Mr. Yıldırım pointed out that there has been a valuable progress in favour of women since 2005 and they are working to have better results. Mr. Yıldırım emphasized the importance of the place of the women in business and stated that the information and communication technologies sector is a very good opportunity for the employment of the women.

Mr. Tayfun Acarer, the president of Information Technologies and Communication Institution (BTK), stated that fixed and mobile lines haven’t been developed because of the local authorities but this will be solved with the regulations of the TR Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. Mr. Acarer stated that the profits of the telecom companies were decreasing because of the extreme competitions although the incomes were increasing and warned the telecom companies on this issue. Mr. Acarer also pointed out the contribution of the prevalence of the internet, infrastructure, call centers to the employment and internet security issues. According to the information given by Mr. Acarer, In 2011, the amount of employment reached to 125.847 persons with an increase of 29%. The industry which has the highest increase in the employment in Turkey is ICT and the ratio of the women’s employment in this industry is 30%. The ratio of the women employees in call centers is 70% in Turkey.

LEYLAARSAN

The event included three panels on ‘Overview of the industry leaders on the women effort in ICT industry’, ‘ Woman’s Place in the industry moving towards 2023’ and ‘Place and importance of the woman in ICT NGOs’. Mr. Erkan Akdemir, CEO of AVEA, Ms. Süreyya Ciliv, CEO of Turkcell, Mr. Gökhan Bozkurt, CEO of Türk Telekom, Özkan Dalbay, CEO of Türksat and Mr. Hasan Süel, the president of the Vodafone Foundation of Turkey made speeches in the first panel. The participants of the second panel which was moderated by Ms. Deniz Yanık, the Vice Chair of BTK are Dr. Ayşe Ufuk Ağar, Director of Enterprise Sabit İş Corvergence Services, Ms. Oya Arkadaş, Artvin Provincial Director of Turk Telekom, Ms. Mehtap (Muluk) Dufour, Vice President of the International Telecommunication Union ITU Space Services Department, Ms. Ceylan Demir Erdal, Director of Regulatory Analysis and Industrial Relations of AVEA, Mr. Mustafa Taylan, Director of Information Technology and Business Development of Türksat and Ms. Zeynep Özbil, the president of Turkcell Corporate Citizenship Department. The third panel was moderated by Ms. Elif Özdemir, Head of the Authorization Department with the participants of Mr. K. Erman Karaca, Board Member of Information Industry Association, Mr. Burak Kır, Vice chair of Mobile Service Provider Businessmen’s Association, Ms. Füsun Sarp Nebil, the Chair of the Board of Whole Internet Association, Ms. Zeynep Sarılar, Vice Chair of Software Industrialist Association and Ms. Leyla Arsan, Board Member of Turkish Informatics Foundation (TBV).

Ms. Leyla Arsan pointed out the lack of the woman managers and professionals according to the data of Meta Analysis of Gender and Science Research Synthesis Report European Commission, 2012 and emphasized that women were not in disadvantageous conditions in ICT industry and they could take place in administrative managements. Ms. Arsan stated that there were some problems about the employment of the women. One of them is social perception which gives the role to the women only in domestic life. Arsan indicated that education and its quality and the employment of the women could be increased to overcome this issue. Ms. Arsan also emphasized that the public policies were not sufficient and some policies which would provide the increase of the employment of women should be rearranged or created.