Bev White

Bev White, Nash Squared CEO, looks at the impact of budget constraints on diversity in the tech sector. This article first appeared onComputerWeekly.com. Poor levels of diversity have long been an issue in the technology sector, especially around gender – but I am concerned that the situation could become even worse at a critical time. The industry needs to renew its focus on raising levels of diversity and inclusion as a matter of urgency, something made all the more important given the development and rollout of AI into countless systems and processes used across business and society. In recent times, both Google and Meta havereportedly downsized programmesthat fell under DEI, while budgets and investment for many different diversity initiatives in tech and STEMhave come under threat. That may partly have been in alignment with a general lowering of budgets to meet market conditions – but DEI is not an optional extra; I would urge businesses to protect them. It was also a setback to the DEI agenda when the UK’sTech Talent Charter(TTC) initiative, that was dedicated to helping raise levels of diversity across tech, closed in June. The TTC cited “shifting priorities and operational pressures threatening the progress of DEI initiatives across the industry.” It was a sad – even shocking – moment that has been much-discussed in the industry. View from the talent base But amidst all these shifts, what are the views on DEI from the talent base itself? Findings from our 2024Harvey Nash Global Tech Talent & Salary Report, launched today and based on input from 2,700 professionals across 44 countries, provides some timely, up-close insights. Overall, we find that most tech professionals (83%) believe their organisation is doing enough to promote diversity. But if budgets and initiatives are cut, this may not remain the case for much longer. The report highlights that tech professionals are already more ambivalent when delving deeper and asking about specific groups and characteristics. Only 52% agree that enough is being done to promote female participation. And gender is the ‘strongest’ category – responses become more mixed against other characteristics, with only 36% agreeing enough is being done around neurodiversity and 38% on disability. LGBTQ+ fares only a little better (42%). In terms of solutions, mentoring programmes specifically aimed at diversity are seen as having the biggest positive impact, closely followed by more inclusive hiring processes. These are not new and may not require huge investment at a time when budgets are constrained – just clear focus and committed action. These findings show that there is a lot more to do to keep moving the dial. The time for talk about DEI is long past – now is the time for action. We can’t afford to let things slide further. DEI: a very human question I know how much diversity and inclusion matters to individuals working in tech. Although I genuinely believe we are making good progress within the Nash Squared Group, I nevertheless frequently receive messages from members of staff relating to the topic. Two things really matter to people: Are there people like me in positions of leadership in the business I work for? Have I got the flexibility I need to bring the best of myself to work and be who I really am? The first question relates to diversity, while the second is more a matter of inclusion. It’s concerning on the inclusion point that some Big Tech firms are pushing hard on an agenda to bring everyone back to the office full-time. Yes, physical colocation helps creativity and collaboration – but at what cost, if pushed too far and too hard? The burning platform of AI What makes all of this even more urgent is the accelerating rollout of AI. We all know that AI algorithms can be used in negative ways, to create deepfakes, spread misinformation and manipulate thinking on social media. With AI becoming integrated not only into social media, but search engines, apps, content generators like ChatGPT and Bard, and numerous IT systems and data analytical tools used by businesses and institutions, bias in the algorithms is a huge risk. It’s essential that there is diversity amongst the developers working on AI because when you’re building tools that help us to interpret the world, you have to have a balanced view. Failure to ensure this could have far-reaching and even dangerous consequences. Part of the solution to the ‘safe’ development of AI is governance and regulation; but without doubt, another part of it is to have diverse teams working on its creation. Reinstalling DEI as a key strategic priority For that reason, but also because it is needed and right anyway, I call on the tech industry (and also policymakers) to put DEI back at the centre of strategy and redouble efforts to attract, retain and support diverse talent all the way through the industry. The longer we fall short on this, the greater the potential harm in the real world could be. There is no time to lose to restore DEI where it belongs – and so much to gain if we succeed in building and maintaining diverse and balanced teams. About the author Bev White is the CEO of the leading global talent and technology solutions provider Nash Squared. She stands as our visionary leader, renowned for her strategic prowess and transformative contributions to technology solutions.

On International Women's Day, our CEO, Bev White, shares her thoughts on the progress (and lack of!) there has been in the number of women in tech. This article first appeared onComputing.co.uk. Although gender equality is still nowhere near where it should be, as we celebrate another International Women’s Day I put myself in the optimistic camp. There are signs of change in society and business and, overall, things are moving in the right direction – the question is, how fast can we make that change go? Technology lagging on gender Certainly, in my own industry of technology, change needs to happen much faster. TheDigital Leadership Reportthat we publish every year shows that the proportion of women in technology leadership roles and in the IT workforce as a whole is only inching up by degrees year on year. Our 2023 research showed that globally 14% of leaders and 23% of the workforce are female – these are the highest we’ve seen but there again the rate of change is glacial and they are far below where they should be. In fact, a sobering finding from theBritish Computer Society (BCS)is that, for the proportion of women in technology to grow to equal the 48% of women in the wider workforce, at the current rate of change it would take 283 years! I don’t know about you, but I am not prepared to wait nearly three centuries for women to have their rightful representation in the wonderful world of tech. It’s very frustrating to see such slow progress given how fantastically suited so many women are to careers in technology. Because there are so many different roles and skills needed in the industry – from technical skillsets through to broader problem solvers, communicators and creative thinkers – and women can tick all the boxes just as much as men. So why isn’t change happening faster in the technology industry? Partly it’s because transformation just does take time. There is no doubt that action is increasing at the entry-level end, and this is great to see. Initiatives like T Levels, the government’s digital boot camps aimed at Gen Z, and the growing number of schemes from employers specifically to attract a more diverse range of young talent, are all helping attract more young girls (and other young people from diverse backgrounds) into technology. There is further to go and more to do, but I am encouraged by what we’re seeing. Losing women from the pipeline However, the problem that we continue to encounter is that too many young women join an employer – and then bounce out again further down the line when their life circumstances change, perhaps never really returning to the professional marketplace. The middle and upper layers still need intensive focus. Because if we don’t fix that, no matter how many young women join at entry level, too few will make it through to the other side. There are many reasons why so many women bounce out. Sometimes it’s to do with the prevailing culture and attitudes of the workplace, which remain very male-dominated in many businesses. Often it’s to do with the struggle of balancing work with family and caring responsibilities which, despite societal change, still fall disproportionately on women. Changing the dynamic That’s why embracing flexible working is so important. This helps all of us, regardless of gender or other characteristic, to manage workloads and balance them with the other elements of our lives. It means that people can give the best of themselves and develop their full potential. But flexible working is only part of the story. More broadly, it’s about changing the dynamic, it’s a question of thinking about the structural governance and communication needed to create and sustain a diverse workforce. Sometimes this requires standing back and being very thoughtful and considerate about how, as leaders, you’re establishing the conditions where everyone can thrive. We had an example of this at Nash Squared which demonstrates the point. We hold all-company town halls once a quarter, and hold two events each time so that people from different parts of the world can join depending on what time zone they’re in. We have been holding these at 8am and 4pm GMT. But we noticed that attendance rates were a little below what we expected and hoped for: why was this? Discussing this as a management team, we realised that the times conflicted for some parents with school drop-off or pick-up times. We hadn’t properly factored this in. As a result, we are going to change the time for at least one of the sessions next time, and hope that this will enable more to join. Creating channels for diverse voices Another way of changing the dynamic is to give the opportunity for a wider range of diverse voices to be heard. Your leadership team may be lacking in some aspects of diversity – so look beyond your direct team sometimes and give other people the opportunity to step up and contribute in terms of reporting to the Board on specific projects, or representing the business to certain clients or suppliers. Look for that up-and-coming talent who can be mentored, supported and encouraged to grow – they will rarely disappoint! This can be a powerful tool not only for gender but other forms of diversity too. In short, it’s about finding ways of doing things differently. We’ve grown up as leaders in a system that’s very different to the one we need to create. So, we have to get used to trying new things, even if sometimes this takes us out of our immediate comfort zone. If we don’t do this, little will actually change. Reasons for optimism I said at the beginning of this piece that I am optimistic. Given all the challenges I’ve highlighted, you may be wondering why. Firstly, we’re seeing an improving picture across the Big Tech giants, with Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple all reporting progress in the numbers of women they’re recruiting and employing. These are brands that should be setting an example, and now are doing so through action and making their diversity figures publicly known. But a broader reason for optimism is that I believe there are more people who want the world to be a better place for future generations than those who don’t. More people than not look beyond outward markers like gender or ethnicity to see the capability and potential that’s there. That’s why I believe that we will make significant progress over time – even if I hope it doesn’t take 283 years. Let’s celebrate all the achievements and contributions of women this International Women’s Day – but remember that we should be doing that every day, not once a year. More accurately still, every day should be ‘International Diversity Day’. If that were the case, we’d soon see positive change accelerating and diverse people thriving in every walk of life. About the Author Bev Whiteis the CEO of the leading global talent and technology solutions provider Nash Squared. She stands as our visionary leader, renowned for her strategic prowess and transformative contributions to technology solutions. With a rich background in pioneering innovation and a steadfast commitment to empowering businesses, Bev has propelled Nash Squared to unparalleled success within the dynamic realm of digital transformation. Her unwavering dedication to excellence and the cultivation of a dynamic corporate culture have positioned her as a respected figure within the tech industry.

Nash Squared CEO, Bev White, takes out her crystal ball and shares her thoughts on what will be trending in technology in 2024. This article first appeared onComputerWeekly.com. Technology is moving and developing faster than ever before. What do the next twelve months have in store? We like to look ahead at the end of every year, even if we don’t always get it right.Last year, we didn’t see generative AI coming (just like everyone else), although we did predict that it would be a massive year for automation, robotics and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). We also predicted that balancing the digital and the human would be key – this feels like a more pertinent point than ever now. And that getting the hybrid/in-office working model right would be an important focus – and this has proven to be a big area during 2023 as Big Tech in particular has increased its push to bring talent back inside its walls. Here is what we see as five really major trends next year: 1. Generative AI will need time to hit the heights There is no doubt that generative AI will continue to be a hugely important disruptor as the technology develops and organisations deploy it into their operations. However, we believe that after the initial excitement and hype of 2023, people will begin to ask more searching questions around “What can we actually do with this?”.That’s not to say that genAI won’t lead to incredible things. But that the eureka applications of it may take a bit longer to emerge. AI will become more embedded into day-to-day technology infrastructure – integrated into browsers, search engines and databases – so that it becomes less visible. This makes it even more important to get the rules around it right. Regulation is expected to appear soon, such as the EU’s AI Act, and it will be vital that this provides clear guidelines around transparency, explainability and anti-bias and disinformation measures. 2. But we will see the first massive AI-generated cyber attack On the risk side, generative AI has obvious capabilities to help cyber criminals launch sophisticated attacks at scale. We are already seeing instances of incredibly convincing, tailored phishing emails that appear to have been generated with AI. In time, the success rate of phishing campaigns could leap exponentially, from the present level of about 0.1% to anywhere around 20%. Then there is ‘AI poisoning’ – infecting the content that is subsumed into the learning process of an AI algorithm so that it becomes untrue, biased or downright malicious. To this we can also add malware - it may not be long before generative AI can develop malicious code that is almost impossible to block.Malware potency could hit new levels, and the cyber industry will need all its skill and investment (and some help from ‘good’ AI) to combat it. When we put these in combination, it’s not difficult to see the risks that generative AI poses – and it would be a surprise if we did not see it harnessed to create a significant, disruptive and prominent attack somewhere within the public sphere during 2024. 3. It won’t all be about AI Although AI and generative AI will be dominant themes, other areas will continue to develop. We can expect quantum computing to grow as an area of interest. Our2023 Digital Leadership Reportfound that one in ten digital leaders globally are already actively considering its use, and quantum as a service (QaaS) is beginning to grow as an offering from the likes of IBM, Amazon and Google. If the cost of accessing QaaS falls, increasing numbers of businesses are likely to start using quantum computers to speed up the calculations and computations they need to solve key challenges.Uptake in quantum computing will be accelerated further if governments around the world follow the UK’s lead in committing significant investment (£2.5bn) in this area. Meanwhile, another non-AI discipline that we expect to see growing in 2024 is platform engineering. This featured at number 4 in Gartner’s top ten technology trends for 2024, and we agree it’s going to be big. Through platform engineers developing self-service infrastructure, templates and frameworks, it enables developers to accelerate their productivity and get to end results faster – at a time when technology budget growth is coming under more pressure, we can expect more focus on platform engineering as a way of bolstering ROI. 4. People will be frustrated about the lack of diversity progress in tech Levels of diversity in tech remain stubbornly and disappointingly low, despite efforts to change the position. Only 14% of tech leaders are women; while only around a quarter of tech teams overall are female and about the same proportion are from ethnic minority backgrounds. I think 2024 will be a year when increasing numbers of stakeholders within tech will lose patience with the glacial rate of change – and what I hope they do in response is to take control of the factors they can influence. That means making a difference on the ground, within individual companies and teams – reviewing not only the hiring policy and processes, but also questions such as ‘who represents our team in engagement with senior leadership?’ Try putting forward someone different, reflecting more diversity – and you’ll almost certainly find they do a great job and bring a different perspective to the Board, maybe changing their perceptions. It’s by building a wave, one team and one company at a time, that change will happen. 5. The heat will rise on sustainability The fact is that the tech industry needs to do more around sustainability and the road to Net Zero. One of the most sobering findings in the Digital Leadership Report is that the technology sector lags at the bottom of the pile in terms of having a Net Zero target and plan – 58% of respondents from tech companies said they didn’t have one, far ahead of the next two worst offenders, healthcare (51%) and business/professional services (50%). This position really isn’t tenable. The pressure will inexorably rise on businesses across sectors to report and disclose more around their sustainability targets and progress. The tech sector has to get behind this. The big players already have ambitious and far-advanced programmes, but we need to see more commitment down through the industry. Rather like with diversity, I hope tech players focus on some of the often quite simple things they can control to lower their carbon footprint: are there ways of cutting email traffic, taking off unnecessary attachments, is there a clear policy that devices should be turned off overnight (where possible), is travel being managed down with collaboration tools utilised instead? Look up and down your value chain and see where you can make a difference. Ask your cloud and data centre providers about their footprints and what actions they are taking. Embrace transparency and disclosure.As a sector, the time has come for technology to grasp the nettle. This will be placed under a fiercer microscope in 2024. 2023 has been a challenging year for many businesses. There are signs that conditions in 2024 may be modestly better, perhaps appreciably so in the second half. Whatever happens, technology will remain critically important to most organisations’ operating models and transformation aspirations – putting those technology businesses who are really focused on serving their customers’ needs in a strong position to flourish. About the Author: Bev White Bev White is the CEO of the leading global talent and technology solutions provider Nash Squared. She stands as our visionary leader, renowned for her strategic prowess and transformative contributions to technology solutions. With a rich background in pioneering innovation and a steadfast commitment to empowering businesses, Bev has propelled Nash Squared to unparalleled success within the dynamic realm of digital transformation. Her unwavering dedication to excellence and the cultivation of a dynamic corporate culture have positioned her as a respected figure within the tech industry.

What are T Levels? T Levels are a rigorous further education route that allows young people between the ages of 16 and 19 to specialise in skills such as cyber security and software design through both academic study and on-the-job experience through an industry placement of at least 315 hours – approximately 45 days. The placement is at the heart of each T Level course. For students, it allows them to experience the world of work and put into practice the skills they have developed at school or college. For employers, it gives them early access to the very brightest young talent, helping to fill skills gaps and allowing them to inspire and shape the future of their industry. Nash Squared has been part of an influential group of employers involved in the development of the curriculum for the cyber security T Level pathway, and we are now excited to be taking our relationships with the Department for Education further as we help to build the number of employers offering T Level placements in England. What are the benefits of T Levels? Our CEO, Bev White, talks about the benefits of T Levels and the launch of the cyber security specialism that students can now choose. This article first appeared on ComputerWeekly.com. T Levels are creating a pathway into the technology sector, from software development to cyber security, for people that feel a more academic route is not for them. The UK has a strong traditional education system that leads young people through GCSEs and A Levels to a degree at some of the world’s leading universities. Every year, thousands of talented and highly educated young people graduate and enter the workplace. Nevertheless, the tech sector – like other industries – struggles to meet its entry level talent needs and build a sustainable pipeline for the future. Skills shortages and gapsare a perennial issue. Meeting diversity ambitions is another challenge, given that traditional routes tend to be dominated by students from certain demographic groups and backgrounds. That is why in recent years alternative pathways including apprenticeships and placement schemes have attracted increasing attention and investment. Recognition has grown that traditional pathways are not suited to everyone and may result in some young people being denied the opportunity to develop to their full potential. Building a wider pipeline of talent at entry level helps address skills shortages and increases diversity, enabling businesses to better reflect the communities in which they operate. The Technical education alternative There is another alternative that is gaining traction too – T Levels, and the recently announced Advanced British Standard (ABS), which over the next decade T Levels and A Levels will merge into. It’s early days since the Prime Minister’s announcement of the ABS, but what we do know is that T levels will be around for some time, and most of their employer-led ‘DNA’ will be inherited into the new ABS qualification. So, let’s look in more detail at T Levels, because they have the potential to enable young people to develop career-focused skills and help businesses meet skills needs. T Levels are an alternative to A Levels, lasting the same duration (two years). One T Level is broadly equivalent to three A Levels, with content that is more practically focused and broadly meets the needs of industry and employers. They are roughly 80% classroom based and 20% workplace based, including an industry placement of around 45 days. Many employers retain T Level students on completion of their course – giving a direct entry route into the world of work. First launched in September 2020, there are 16 different T Levels now available across subjects as diverse as agriculture, construction, digital, engineering, finance, health and science. The list is expanding, with the government aiming to have 24 T Levels available by 2024. Cyber refresh The content of existing T Levels is expanding too. The Digital Support Services T Level gives students a grounding in all aspects of digital, from how digital technologies impact the business and market environment to understanding virtual and cloud environments and using data in software design. The qualification also covers the key area of cyber security, privacy and confidentiality – and has been expanded so that, from this September, cyber security has been added to the range of ‘occupational specialism’ that students can opt for. With cyber attackers becoming ever more proactive and determined, industry is in acute need of a steady in-flow talent to their cyber security teams. Skills shortages in cyber are amongst the worst of any discipline and indeed the government recently warned of an 11,200 shortfall compared to the demands of the cyber workforce. In our own annual Digital Leadership Report, cyber routinely features as one of the highest areas of skills shortage. Technical qualifications in action The role that T Levels play today and in the future is vitally important as they create a pathway into the technology sector for those people that feel a more academic route is not for them. I was at an event recently which included a number of people who had completed their T Level studies. One such T Level graduate spoke proudly of the fact that she had never been any good at taking exams but is a great problem solver, so the more practical approach of T Levels was perfect for her. She has now landed a dream job as a Software Developer at Lloyds Bank. These sorts of examples shine a light on why T Levels are so important in providing an alternative pathway for those very gifted and talented young people who have strengths which may go unnoticed in a more traditional educational setting. Employers: lean in My message to employers is – be curious about T Levels, lean in. They could be a fantastic source of fresh new talent for your business. Hundreds of employers have already hosted T Level students on industry placements, and that number is set to grow. Take a look at the T Levels on offer and think about which ones are applicable to your line of business – getting involved could help you open up a new talent stream. Even if you don’t take on a student afterwards, giving them a placement means you will be playing your part in helping the country equip our new generation with work-ready, practically-focused skills and attributes that will keep the wheels of the economy turning. You can also find more about the Advanced British Standard, and how T Levels will fold into it over the next decade. Either way, promoting technical education will be an important factor in building our UK tech skills pipeline, and we all have a role to play. Find out more about T Levels and our recent event here.