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Women in Business Conference’ to focus on IT

MUSCAT — A special focus on the use of IT will be a feature of this year’s annual Women in Business Conference in Oman on Sunday and Monday. Also, the Information and Technology Association will showcase their ‘Women and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’ initiative.

“In recent decades, the widespread incorporation of ICTs into many tiers of business, political processes and everyday life has caused fundamental restructuring of the global economy,” Salma Al Hashmi, Managing Director of Envent, a leading public relations, events management and marketing communications consultancy, which is organising the conference, said.

“ICTs have increased the ability to work remotely and to communicate across geographical, social and gender divides. This part of the conference will focus on the impact of ICT on women and their use as a tool for their empowerment and the promotion of gender equality,” she added.

Another highlight of the event will be the opportunity for business ‘matchmaking’ with similar businesses overseas providing the chance of sharing information and developing international contacts with women in a similar field.

The conference, titled ‘Changing the Face of Business - Women as an Economic Force’ and to be held at the Muscat Inter.Continental Hotel, will be inaugurated by Sayyida Aliya bint Thawing Al Said.

Addressing the delegates this year will be a panel of high profile and inspiring women speakers, both local and international, from a range of business sectors and sizes of organisation, Hashmi said.

Now in its fourth year, the Women in Business Conference has firmly established itself as a leading women’s conference in Oman, bringing together business professionals from a variety of businesses and industries, as well as entrepreneurs and students, under one roof to explore current critical business, economic and social issues specifically related to women in the workforce.

“This year’s theme has been selected to reflect the dynamic nature of local and international businesses and the role played by women in this environment,” Hashmi said. The conference, she said, would specifically address “the challenges of the dynamic business world, how to overcome them and develop a strategy to ensure the success of your business.”

The speakers will include Ashley Hunter, President of HM Risk Group based in Texas; Ayah Al Bialy, Advisor for Culture and Humanities, The Research Council, Oman; Renu Kapoor, Project and Strategic Consultant and Director Indian Institute of Jewellery; Lydia Roux, Founder of Gauteng Talent Management Solutions; Archana Garodia Gupta, Director, Touchstone Gems and Jewellery (India) Pvt. Ltd; Hanan Saab, Managing Director, Pharmamed; and Angelika Renate Storz-Chakarji, the German Ambassador to Oman. Envent has brought on board Microsoft as a technology partner for the conference. “Microsoft welcomes this partnership particularly as the Women in Business Conference 2010 will have a focus on information and communication technology and women, a subject very close to our hearts,” Ahmed El-Dandachi, Country Manager, Microsoft Oman, said.

· ravindranath@khaleejtimes.com