VISIBILITY MATTERS
Louisa Daley chats to Mark Martin and Julia Streets about tech ’ s role in diversity and inclusion
echnology : we all use some form of it in our daily lives . Whether that ’ s scrolling through social media on our phones or checking work emails on our laptops . So why doesn ’ t the tech sector reflect the same diverse individuals it is made for ? What would happen to the capabilities of tech if we helped drive the focus towards diversity , equity and inclusion ( DEI )?
This is something UK Black Business Week ( UK BBW ) touched on last year . On one of the days , it shone a spotlight on ‘ The Black Tech Experience ’, providing a forum for Black professionals to gain insight on how to build a successful career in the tech sector .
After attending UK BBW , I wondered how platforms could benefit from more Black tech professionals in the sector and wanted to explore some of the ideas further . So , I reached out to technology experts Mark Martin , founder of UKBlackTech and Julia Streets , executive producer of DiverCity Podcast , to find out more about the tech sector ’ s current and future landscape and how this ultimately ties into cultural and event experiences .
Mark Martin
Bridging the gap There ’ s a renewed focus in events about hiring from underrepresented backgrounds , with the benefit on the surface being that having a broader range of people within a business , leads to a more diverse way of looking at things . I asked our experts how the tech sector was keeping up on this front and what was changing .
According to the stats , there are Black technologists moving into the tech sector , “ but at a very low rate ,” says Martin .
This lack of representation in the tech sector is something Streets has also been seeing throughout her career . This is the case despite organisations like WeAreTechWomen , Code First Girls , Tech Global Advocates , being committed to driving real change around DEI .
Julia Streets
“ The data clearly shows that diverse organisations outperform , so why is the pace of change so slow , why is it taking so long ?,” she asks . One of the reasons for this , Martin suggests , is the disconnect from the tech talent pipeline which therefore leaves an “ untapped talent pool ”.
“ There ’ s so many Black technologists out there , who are achieving amazing things , but at the time of our launch in 2017 , there wasn ’ t a dedicated platform to showcase their work ,” he says . Hence Martin ’ s desire to create UKBlackTech .
“ UKBlackTech wanted to be that platform . We work with universities to connect young people to the tech talent pipeline , we work with start-ups to improve and enhance their innovation , we work with corporates , in terms of supporting www . conference-news . co . uk