By Barbara Dalibard

As we all know, a leadership role has not always been something that women have aspired to in the greater business context. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way and I am heartened to see the progress women have made over the years in the sciences, in business, in medicine, and in the arts – all areas where young women believe they can do what they want, fulfil their aspirations and make their dreams a reality.

Today, more and more young women are thinking about having careers in fields such as science and technology. Such disciplines are still predominantly male. Why? Mainly because since school, we have been told that these disciplines invoke rigorous, logical and competitive characteristics, better suited to the male personality.

I have been in the telecommunications industry for almost 25 years and my experience has been quite different from what I was taught. Logic and rigour are certainly required traits, but I would also insist on the major role played by creativity, good communication skills, imagination, and intuition. Content of my work over the years has been extremely diverse. The experiences I have obtained from dealing with very different people (from researchers to engineers to marketers) have been incredibly rewarding.

If you are young and thinking about the career you would like to pursue, always consider areas that present the most opportunities, irrespective of whether they have been traditionally male dominated. As such technology should figure in your thoughts. I have found as long as you take ownership of your career, take accountability and show your willingness to communicate effectively, you will be rewarded for it.

Technology, whether it is communications, high-tech, or science-related, is always at the forefront of innovation and investment. Consequently it is a wonderful and dynamic area to work in. Young women should be open about considering a career in a technology company. They will be rewarded for their efforts and will have access to unlimited opportunities. As far as I am concerned, I have had and am still having a wonderful time.

Best of Luck!

Living Tomorrow is a house museum with a twist- It provides a glimpse into future in contrast to a walk down memory lane, which a more tradition house museum offers. However, there is as much to learn and experience here. The Living Tomorrow project, presented at the WF by Suez, is a platform that showcases home innovations that maybe available in the not so distant future. The general theme of the project combines convenience of technology with the benefits of energy efficiency. So far, there have been three such model homes and the latest one was completed last year. Do visit LivingTomorrow for more information on the project.

What we see in the discovery area is a sample of the latest model home in Vilvoorde near Brussels. Below are some displays in their exhibit that I found to be interesting for their simplicity, cleverness and benefits.

Who needs a toothbrush that only cleans teeth:
On display is a toothbrush that measures your body temperature and blood pressure while you clean your teeth. It then sends the information wirelessly to a display screen in your bathroom and to your doctor. The doctor can use these vital signs to check your health and accordingly adjust your medication, which by the way is also displayed on the screen. With the increasing aging population, such systems that integrate health management into daily routines are positioned to be clear winners.

A simple way to heat up your shower:
This is a very simple solution to save up to 40% of heat calories used for a shower. Basically, this system re-circulates the wastewater from your shower and uses it to warm-up the fresh water. While you will still need a water-heater there is considerable saving in energy, as this solution can increase the water temperature by about 10C. The system was developed by Suez as part of their partnership with Living Tomorrow.

A super solution for super-moms and dads:
Living together along with Microsoft has developed an integrated computer system that helps with the organization of your home. From directly sending your grocery list to your local supermarket to confirming the freshness of food, this system helps in your daily kitchen routine. In addition, the system can teach you how to cook! Yes, you read that correctly. This solution was developed in conjunction with Delhaize that provides menus for the week in a bag. With a touch of the screen, the system will demonstrate via a cooking show on TV, how to put these meals together. The system has several other interesting features that should be checked out.

Mother nature to the rescue:
Suez with Clima Cialing has developed an energy efficient water-based heating/cooling system for your home. The system consists of a series of pipes that runs water through the ground, which cools the water to 12C. This cooled water is then circulated through the home for cooling. The heat in the home in summer is harvested similarly by warming the water, which when circulated through the ground increases the ground temperature to 18C. Therefore the warmer ground now provides warm water to supplement heating in winter. It may sound complex, but the good news is: it works. A hotel in Northern Italy that is currently using the system reported a gas bill of just 5000 euros for the entire year.

All in all, this exhibit shows how simple solutions can make our lives more efficient and also demonstrates that some large corporates are indeed working to solve the looming environmental crisis.

I will be going around interviewing Women’s Forum attendees today and tomorrow. Here is the first installment.

Gabriela Gorostidi, Global Supply Chain Excellence Manager, Shell Lubricants, talks about how she used to be in fashion and when she changed to technology!

Watch the video interview here or by clicking on Gabriela’s picture.

New technologies. New advances in medicine. We hear about a new drug to cure this disease, a protein that has been discovered, a new technology that will improve that process. But, what does it really mean? Are we all understanding the same thing? Who controls what is being researched or how should human enhancement, genetic testing, etc be used?

All of these questions have no definite answer, but the different points of view of a panel on the topic today gave me a pretty good idea of how differently humans can think about one same issue. The one thing the panel really agreed on was that it has be to “ethical”. Nick Bostrom, Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, gave excellent examples of how humans have reacted negatively to advances in medicine throughout history, for example anesthesia (something that I take for granted, how could I go to the dentist without it?). How can science and society interphase? According to Nick, through public understanding (when scientists explain to the general public how things work, in my case, it could be the equivalent to learning a foreign language in 24 hours), public engagements where people would have the chance to ask questions (sounds better) and bringing the public in an earlier stage of the research process.

When asked about why people resist to technological and scientific change, he commented that before, people were born, lived and died without really experiencing these changes during their lifetime. About 300 to 400 years ago, changes began to happen, so people have not “evolved” biologically to resist change, it’s psychological. It takes time for people to differentiate between good and bad ideas. Well, that leaves me thinking: how do we all agree what is bad and what is good? Where do we draw the line?