US team visiting India to boost women's numbers in ICT

A tech delegation of top women executives in the information and communication technology sector is visiting India this week to explore ideas to increase the number of women in ICT professions and academia.

Led by the US State Department, the delegation will be meeting with leading companies, foundations, educational institutions and government ministries engaged in promoting women in ICT and interacting with the media in New Delhi and Bangalore.

The effort is driven by the State Department along with the Institute of International Education (IIE), public sector, private sector and civil society organizations.

Among the executives travelling to India are Intel India president Kumud Srinivasan, Microsoft vice president (Strategic Enterprise Services) Jacky Wright, Qualcomm vice president (Government Affairs) Shawn Covell and Goldman Sachs managing director (IT) Jane Chwick.

From the State Department the delegation will have Alyssa Ayres, deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, and Ann Mei Chang, senior advisor for women and technology in the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues.

Others on the delegation are Pearly Chen, HTC, Office of the Chairman, Julie Baher, Citrix, Senior Director, Dana Contreras, Twitter, Senior Engineer, Julia Lovin, Juniper Networks, Sr. Director Junos Engineering, and Trish Tierney, Institute of International Education, Executive Director.

Advancing women in ICT as well as in science, technology and entrepreneurship is a foreign policy priority for the US, which is actively engaged with countries around the world to achieve this goal, according to US officials.