SheHacks program provides tech opportunities for Indonesian women

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has enabled more than 1,500 Indonesian women to share their ideas through the SheHacks program in an effort to reduce the gender gap in tech.

With its focus on digital technology, the Indian telco works to reduce the gender gap by supporting women to have equal opportunities in areas such as economics, education and health.

As a result, the program, which began in October 2020 and completed its final program in December 2021, enabled 1,548 Indonesian women to develop proficiency in using digital tech; of those, the program recorded 1,453 participants aged between 15-40 and received 477 problem-solving proposals in 2021.

In contrast, the programs for 2020 consisted of a total of just 95 participants and 30 submitted proposals.

The 2021 programs also had a wider reach, with 23% of the total participants coming from outside Java Island.

"We really appreciate the enthusiasm of more than a thousand inspiring Indonesian women who have shown extraordinary ideas and creations in SheHacks 2021," says Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, senior vice president and head of corporate communications Steve Saerang.

"Seeing the spirit of Indonesian women in finding the right solution to overcome real-life problems through technology, we believe that women will play an important role in the digital technology sphere to support the nation's advancement in the future," Saerang adds.

The company also collaborated with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UN Women, and GSMA Connected Women to hold a series of webinars for participants and the public on technology knowledge-sharing and female empowerment from influential figures in the tech sector.

In addition, mentoring and strategic partners sessions were offered to finalists, and a place on the buddy program was offered to the top five finalists.

The strategic partners sharing sessions were intended to give in-depth knowledge on issues affecting women, including the use of technology to promote entrepreneurship and family welfare, access to quality education, and women's reproductive rights regarding health services.

Between the mentoring and strategic partners sessions, the webinars involved a range of influential figures.

These included POST.app co-founder and CEO Reza Rizky Darmawan, Oihub founder Dina Kosasih, ITB SBM Business Incubator director Dina Dellyana, Reblood CEO Leonika Sari, UN Women Indonesia Women's Economic Empowerment program lead Iriantoni Almuna, and GSMA Connected Women senior director, Dominica Lindsey, as well UNDP as Youth Co:Lab Indonesia focal point Lady Diandra.

The judges included LinkAja CEO Haryati Lawidjaja, KUMPUL CEO and founder Faye Wongso, Pinhome CEO and founder Dayu Dara Permata, and UN Women Indonesia Program head Dwi Faiz.

The three winners selected by the judges received cash prizes totalling approx. US$7,000.

Furthermore, the top five finalists were given the opportunity to connect with the right global stakeholders to take their solution ideas through a development process until they were funded in a four-month buddy program from September to December 2021.

"We hope that the SheHacks program can continue to encourage the realisation and innovative creations from Indonesian women in improving people's quality of life through digital technology," Saerang says.

"We believe that women can create impactful changes, not only for their surrounding environment but also for the wider community.