English
Supporting the representation of women in technology is a key aim for Blue Prism – helping to improve diversity in the automation, software and digital sectors.
We know the key roles that women have played in the evolution of our robotic process automation (RPA) technology, but we also see the gender imbalance that still exists within the tech world. Our ‘Women in RPA’ (WIRPA) initiative aims to change this, by providing the support, community and platform needed to champion the fight for equality in tech.
In the third part of this 4-part series, we chat with Carla Marzari, Innovation Engineer at Blue Prism to hear how WIRPA is helping to drive female innovation.
Driving innovation by women in tech
Carla Marzari joined the Blue Prism Innovation Center in 2019 as an innovation engineer, exploring new forward-thinking ways to develop robotic process automation (RPA) and the emerging world of connected-RPA, as she explains:
“As an innovation engineer, I conceive, design and create new, forward-looking and innovative solutions with connected-RPA and emerging technologies. Over the years, I’ve won several hack-a-thons around the United States, and earned the prestigious OZY Genius Award in 2018.”
“Before joining the Blue Prism family, I held roles in Healthcare RPA and software development and earned my B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering Technology from the University of Toledo. I’m incredibly passionate about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and do my bit for STEM education by leading robotics clubs at the elementary and high school level and helping the next generation to gain a computer science education.”
Presenting at the Women of Silicon Valley event
Carla will be speaking at the rescheduled Women of Silicon Valley conference in Santa Clara on October 15-16. She’ll be there to outline how Intelligent Automation and the ever-evolving world of digital solutions will support female innovation now and in the future.
Connected-RPA is at the heart of the Blue Prism proposition, and can help to automate much of the low-level work that is currently holding back innovation, as Carla highlights:
“What does Intelligent Automation (IA) really mean? In essence, it’s about using tech to do the jobs we, as humans, don’t want to do – or the jobs where an algorithm can add far more value. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, sentiment analysis, and a litany of other emerging technologies, the way we run our businesses and organizations is changing at incredible speed.”
“Businesses are mixing, matching, and combining legacy back-office data and systems with new emerging tech stacks and digitally transforming themselves. But, IA isn’t out of reach – it’s delivering real business value today. During my Women of Silicon Valley session, I’ll be going beyond the hypothetical and into current day applications for IA, with real-world demos of automation in action – showing how IA can transform your business, offer incredible value, and open up greater innovation time for women in tech.”
Blue Prism and WIRPA: supporting women in tech
Our Women in RPA’ (WIRPA) initiative is now one year old and offers a community for women working in the automation and tech space. It’s a forum for discussion, a place to run events and a growing network of ambitious women – all of whom support each other and the aims of WIRPA. This platform plays a vital part in pushing the equality agenda, as Carla points out:
“There are still barriers currently facing women in the tech sector, and I believe ‘Impostor Syndrome’ and feeling like you ‘don’t belong’ are the biggest barriers. That’s something we need to work on, so that women feel they have a genuine and trusted place at the table.”
“Initiatives like Blue Prism’s ‘Women in RPA (WIRPA)’ initiative encourage women to aim high and create supportive communities for women. Having a supportive community helps retain women in tech while also increasing networking with other like-minded people.”
Intelligent Automation as a driver of equality
Intelligent Automation is already helping women in the workplace, by automating many of the administrative tasks that eat into creative and innovation time – and Carla believes that the different skills needed within RPA will help to drive the gender equality agenda.
“RPA and IA is a unique field because, not only is this automation tech fairly new compared to other technologies, it’s also vastly different to traditional software engineering and requires a slightly different skill set. In my experience, you don’t see the ‘Brogrammer’ male stereotype in RPA/IA. It’s actually a more open environment for women than many other specialisms.”
“When I present to the female business community, it’s to underline the current, real-world, and innovative applications of IA; and the positive impact of these applications. Empowerment is one of Blue Prism’s key values, and my goal is to empower women to look at IA as something attainable that they can implement – not as something that’s impossible or out of reach.”
“I see the outlook for women in the RPA sector as being extremely positive. More and more women are joining – and staying – in technology. I believe, with more awareness of the issues women are facing, the situation will improve and we’ll see a whole lot more tech innovation coming from these empowered women.”
Please join us tomorrow (May 14) when Carla will be talking about Intelligent Automation: An Overview Of Current Day Applications And Benefits. Carla will be also presenting her talk at the rescheduled Women of Silicon Valley conference on October 15-16 at Santa Clara Convention Center.
If you’d like to know more about WIRPA and how we’re empowering women to follow new and exciting career paths in RPA, please do get in touch.