The American multinational technology company is aiming to end the gender gap in tech firms by connecting businesswomen across the globe and providing them with tools needed to succeed in the 2015 Dell Women's Summit kicking off on June 28 in Berlin.
According to a report by Entrepreneur Country Global, the Dell Women's Summit will connect more than 200 female businesswomen, entrepreneur leaders and media around the world to share ideas as part of the company's network of women entrepreneurs.
"It's a well-established fact that, as a country starts to come out of recession, growing businesses play a critical role in helping stimulate the economy and increasing overall business confidence," said Dell Europe, Middle East and Africa president Aongus Hegarty said in the Entrepreneur Country Global report. "With the economy on a positive upswing in Europe, I can't think of a better location for such a diverse group of global entrepreneurs and thought leaders to meet."
CNN's "World Business Today" reported Thursday Dell's Women Summit is also aiming to include women-run businesses in the global supply chain of the company.
"Dell has spent over $4 billion dollars in the past year with women on businesses and diverse suppliers," said Mona Charif of Dell Service in the interview with anchor Maggie Lake. "Also our women's entrepreneur network has contributed tremendously; I call it, capitalizing on global sisterhood."
The summit also reportedly seeks to address the wide gender gap between men and women working for tech companies, with the latter occupying only a small percentage in the tech work force.
In a recent study released by the American Association of University Women, that is a significant gender gap between men and women working in the computer and engineering workforce.
"More girls than ever before are studying and excelling in science and mathematics. Yet the dramatic increase in girls' education achievements in these fields has not been matched by similar increases in the numbers of women working as engineers and computing professionals," the study said in the executive summary.
The findings of the study showed that only around 12 percent of women share the pie of the engineering workforce as compared to almost 90 percent of men. Meanwhile, in the computing workforce, around 26 percent are women compared to around 73 percent of men.
In relation to Dell's Women Summit, the former Entrepreneur-In-Residence of Dell , Inc. Ingrid Vanderveldt reportedly launched a movement called "Empowering a Billion Women by 2020," in partnership with companies including Dell Financial Services.
"Our business goal by 2020 is to get $1B of credit into the hands of women enabling them to gain access to up to $10B worth of support and infrastructure to build their ventures," said Vanderveldt in a press release. "With that, we expect them to generate up to $100B in global market by providing women with the tools technology, and resources then need to succeed."
