Date: 23/06/2022
The webinar ‘Women in tech – what role should companies play?’, co-hosted by ALL DIGITAL and ITPE, focused on the role of employers and how they can help accelerate the uptake of women in the IT workplace.
Guest speakers were Petra Kotuliakova of the CEPIS Women in IT group and Tamara Dancheva, Senior Manager, International Relations/Government and Regulatory Affairs at GSMA, who discussed their initiatives and solutions for promoting diversity in the workforce.

Programme
10:00 – 11:30 CEST
Introduction
- Peter Palvolgyi, CEO at ALL DIGITAL & Jakub Christoph CEPIS Secretary General
The CEPIS ‘DiversIT Charter’ for increasing gender diversity in IT
- Petra Kotuliakova, Women in IT group, CEPIS
Perceptions of Power: Championing Female Leadership in Tech
- Tamara Dancheva, Senior Manager International Relations, GSMA
Discussion
Speakers

Ms Petra Kotuliakova is founder of ‘Aj Ty v IT’, based at the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies (FIIT) of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, where she works for the inclusion of more women in tech and challenges common prejudice in the IT sector. She is a key contributor in the Women in IT group of CEPIS, which launched its ‘DiversIT Charter’ in November 2020.

Ms Tamara Dancheva is Senior Manager, International Relations within the External Affairs and Industry Purpose department at the GSMA, she is responsible for leading on GSMA’s strategy in the international digital gender inclusion space. She also leads on GSMA’s partnerships with UN Women, the EQUALS global partnership for gender equality in the digital age, the Generation Equality Innovation and Technology Action Coalition and the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network among others. Ms Dancheva is currently a member of the European Union Delegation to the W20 Engagement Group of G20 and Co-Chairs the W20 Working Group on Rural Women in this capacity.

Mr Peter Palvolgyi has been serving ALL DIGITAL since 2012, first as financial officer and Chief Operating Officer, and since March 2021 – as Chief Executive Officer. Peter is responsible for strengthening the position of ALL DIGITAL as a leading European actor in the field of digital competences for citizenship, inclusion, education, and employability. Peter has long-standing experience in project management of EU funded projects and other donors’ programmes having managed and coordinated EU-funded projects where ALL DIGITAL acted either as lead organisation or partner. Before moving to Brussels in 2012, Peter worked as the executive director of DemNet Foundation (Hungary), a then member organization of ALL DIGITAL.

Mr Jakub Christoph is the CEPIS and ITPE Secretary General since September 2021. He coordinates the work of both organisations to promote IT professionalism by fostering professional standards and experience sharing among IT professionals; community.
He previously held the position of Regional Development Manager for Europe and MENA in ICDL Foundation. His role involved coordinating activities of ECDL/ ICDL Operators, advocacy for digital literacy and its certification in Europe and MENA region.