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International Women’s Day reminds us, once again, the importance of making the role of women visible in the ICT sector. Women who are already part of the sector lead the way and set an example. Today Elisabet and Itziar tell us how they became Women IT.

At SII Group Spain we understand that without them our sector will not go as far as it could go. Therefore, today we want to remember that the presence of women is necessary and essential in all areas. Encouraging the youngest and fostering initiatives that attract new technological profiles must become one of our main priorities.

Many women have played a crucial role in the development of information and communication technologies, setting the path that others would follow for decades.

WomenIT at SII Group Spain

They also lead the way, set an example, fight and get where they want to go. They are Elisabet and Itziar, and they tell us how they have become ICT Women.

elisabet bitrià responsable de comunicaciones y redes en sii group spain

Elisabet Bitrià

COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS MANAGER

At what point in your life did you decide on ICT?

When I was a child, every Sunday we went to dinner at the house of some friends of my parents that had a son two or three years older than me. On any given Sunday, this boy showed me his new toy, which was nothing less than a computer. He had multitude of floppy disk games from that time, and we spent hours playing with them. That day aroused my interest in computing and telecommunications. From that moment on, every time people asked me what I wanted to do, my answer was always the same: IT, IT, IT!

Later, I decided to do a telecommunications training cycle. Even so, I never liked the networks. In fact, I hated them and look how things change that now it has become my job. Finally, when I entered the labor market, I realized that I needed to continue studying and I made the decision to combine my studies in telecommunications, now at university level, with my job.

Why do you think that the presence of women in the technological field is still so rare?

I believe that my generation has still lived conditioned by a series of stereotypes. For a long time, we believed that there were jobs for men and jobs for women. In my case, we were just 2 girls in a class of 42 people. Still, I think that small percentage of women already hid the beginning of a true transformation. What I mean is that, when it came time to choose, women of my generation began to enter the world of ICT. And since then, this percentage has only grown.

Things change, of course. I know that technology is currently being made known from the early educational stages through all kinds of activities. Now boys and girls grow up knowing that technology is an option for everyone.

itziar pla responsable de soporte it en sii group spain

Itziar Pla

IT SUPPORT MANAGER

How did you get into the world of ICT?

I arrived rather by chance. I went on an adventure, to live in Valencia, where I spent some time working in the hospitality industry. However, the arrival of the crisis made me rethink everything. I had to close, I lost my job, I moved… And, by chance, the owner of my new house was a manager of a major technology company. This person, very kindly, take a chance on me and I joined a health project in the Valencian Community to digitize medical reports. That year marked a turning point in my professional career. That was when I discovered the world of ICT.

Later, I started working on a new project related to education, in which I was doing CAU and giving support to teachers who used a tool called Ithaca. Two more years passed before I decided to return to Barcelona. At that time, I sent a CV to SII Group Spain to start working as a CAU.

Everything I have learned about support; I have learned it at SII Group Spain. I came to this company not knowing what a VPN was. Ultimately, it is about wanting to learn… Rewards always come last. Now I am responsible of a technical team!

What is your reflection on women in the technology sector?

For many years, the world of ICT was unknown to me. It did not even exist in my imagination. Nobody bothered to tell me about him when I was a child. And I think it is not an isolated case, but rather symptomatic. It was the coincidences of life that allowed me to make my way in this sector but, if not, it is likely that I would never have been interested in this professional career.

It is true that there are many female references related to ICT but what we do not have is information. For a long time, the role of women in this sector has been invisible. I think it is very important to make them visible so that the new generations will know them. This will awaken their interest in technology, and I am convinced that many more girls will find their future option in this sector.