Business & Money | Wednesday 11 March, 2015 12:09 am |

On Sunday March 8th the city of Jeddah hosted the Women Spark initiative organized by the Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) in partnership with Microsoft Arabia. The aim of the initiative is to promote the role of women within the information technology industry and support their ambitions to develop their own technical programs and projects in order to enhance their professional careers.

The Women Spark program is one of many entrepreneurship initiatives that are the outcome of the strategic partnership between Microsoft Arabia and Saudi Hollandi Bank, which are aimed at stimulating the energies and talents of young Saudis in various technical skills and encouraging their ability to innovate creative ideas in accordance with international standards.

A large number of Saudi women attended the day-long Women Spark program which consisted of workshops and lectures on ways to empower women and to stimulate their spirit of entrepreneurship in the field of information technology.

The program was conducted by a group of experts in entrepreneurship, project development and information technology organizations, including Deema AlYahya, Developer Experience and Evangelism Lead in Microsoft Arabia; Nour Al-Khouja, Academic Programs Manager at Microsoft Arabia; Tuba Terekli, co-founder and CEO of Qotuf Entrepreneurship Company; and Professor Arwa Al-Aama, Vice Mayor of IT in Jeddah Municipality.

Mohammed Al-Muwannas, head of marketing and corporate communication at Saudi Hollandi Bank, renewed SHB’s faith in on the abilities of Saudi women to achieve further progress in their careers through the opportunities offered by the initiative, which offers an interactive platform for women to acquire the necessary skills to support their ambitions and enhance their confidence to become leaders in their fields, which will positively influence business communities and society in general.

Speaking on behalf of Microsoft, Deemah AlYahya expressed her pride in the strategic partnership with Saudi Hollandi Bank and its sponsorship of this initiative, which aims to empower women within the business sectors in Saudi Arabia, specifically in the field of information technology. She went on to emphasize the commitment of the two partners to create promising job opportunities for Saudi women and provide the necessary projects and initiatives to enable the launch of creative projects and enrich their professional experience in order to support their contributions to the community and Saudi Arabia’s social and economic development.