The Tech Women Behind Nobel Systems | International Women’s Day

Nobel Systems, a GIS Cloud Solutions company with offices in the United States, the Philippines, and India, salutes the women who work with Nobel and around the world.

Observed since the early 1900s, International Women’s Day celebrates the cultural, social, economic and political achievement of women. It includes a call to action for gender equality in all areas of life.

While much has been achieved throughout the century in the name of women, there is still a long way to go. The infographic below from the National Center for Women & Information Technology shows the existing disparity in technology jobs held by women.

But these statistics do not hold true at Nobel Systems.

Women are at the operations forefront of Nobel Systems, a GIS Cloud solutions company founded in 1992.  The ratio of women to men at the company’s U.S. headquarters is nearly 50 percent, said Michael Samuel, Nobel Systems President and CEO.

“Many people say women are under-represented in technology. Not true!” Samuel said with a laugh, referring to the numbers of women who work at Nobel Systems.

Here are some of the women who help successfully operate Nobel Systems:

CFO Audrey Samuel manages the financial aspects of Nobel Systems’ business operations at its San Bernardino headquarters.

Chief Technology Officer Aretha Samuel leads the tech team in developing the flagship GeoViewer products, including the company’s various cloud, IoT, and business intelligence solutions.

Software developers Jabina and Joshua Richard help the Nobel Systems team fine-tune the company’s work:

These are the women who are a driving force of the company’s headquarters in India:

Richel Cebu and Gella Romero are the business development leaders of Nobel Systems Philippines headquarters. Both have worked with the company for more than a decade.

Facts About Women in Technology

The below infographic from the National Center for Women & Information Technology shows that in 2016, only 26 percent of computing jobs were held by women.

But given the fact that 1. 1 million computing jobs are expected to be available by 2024, those numbers might increase. However, only 18 percent of Computer and Information Sciences bachelor’s degree recipients in 2015 were women.

The next generation of thinkers and innovators are developing now. By encouraging girls to tinker and create, tech companies can ensure a much more diverse future for the industry. — Monica Eaton-Cardone

Increasing these numbers is a matter of mentorship and advocacy for girls and young women, writes Monica Eaton-Cardone on Entrepreneur.  

“The next generation of thinkers and innovators are developing now. By encouraging girls to tinker and create, tech companies can ensure a much more diverse future for the industry.”

History of International Women’s Day

The history of International Women’s Day includes demonstrations, conferences, and declarations in various countries around the world.

It is recorded but disputed that the idea for an International Women’s Day sprung from a 1907 march of 15,000 women garment factory workers in New York, who protested workplace conditions in the factories. Author Temma Kaplan argues in her 1986 book “On the Socialist Origins of International Women’s Day” that it was a myth created to hide the real socialist roots of the celebration.

Socialist roots notwithstanding, the first National Woman’s Day in the U.S. took place Feb. 28, 1909. (Early day celebrations used the singular “Woman”) Charlotte Perkins Gilman proclaimed to a crowd in New York City, “It is true that a woman’s duty is centered in her home and motherhood, but home should mean the whole country and not be confined to three or four rooms of a city or a state.”

The U.S. event was followed by the International Women’s Conference in Copenhagen in 1910, attended by 100 women from 17 countries, during which the first official International Women’s Day was established. However, no fixed date was chosen.

During early 1900  IWD events,  the struggle to end gender discrimination, and the fight for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained and hold public office took place in Europe and calls safer working conditions and higher wages for women in the U.S.  textiles industry took place. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911, which killed 140 mostly immigrant women workers, spurred the call against dangerous working conditions for women.

Russian women jumped into the fray in 1917, holding massive demonstrations that protested poor living conditions, including the lack of necessary food supplies and goods. It took place the last Sunday in February, which was March 8 according to the Gregorian calendar. The Soviet Union has commemorated that event by celebrating Woman’s Day on Feb. 23 (March 8) since 1922, when Lenin declared the celebration official.

The United Nations in 1977 declared the official date March 8 for the celebration of International Women’s Day. It is now celebrated by more than 100 countries around the world.