Some 150 women from Australia’s biggest corporations as well as the public and small business sectors attended the Females in IT and Telecommunications (FITT) lunch forum in Sydney yesterday to discuss what they want from technology.

Their wish list was short: flexibility and the confidence to use the off button on their high-tech devices.

They want the ability to use technology to be in two places at once, to multitask and to deliver what is expected of them in the office and at home. They want more employers to deploy video conferencing, instant messaging, blogs, social networks, tele-presence and a myriad other applications including unified communications so that they can manage their teams, stay in touch with clients, work productively and have a family too, if they so choose. Unified communications applications integrate stand-alone email, voice, desktop and other systems to deliver constant connectivity.

Adele Whish-Wilson, CEO of mobile video streaming technology company Momentum Technologies, told the gathering unified communications was a blessing and a curse.

“It does blur the line between our personal time and our work time. It has also changed people’s expectations of our availability. As an employer it is very important for us to offer these new flexible ways to work because we want more women in IT. But it is up to us (workers) not to say yes all the time. It’s up to us to be very clear when we can be contacted,” she said.

“The off button: just because we choose to use it, it doesn’t mean we’re less committed,” Whish-Wilson said.

Dr Anna Liu, group manager, emerging technologies, Microsoft Australia, was introduced to the audience as a woman who walks the talk. As a mother-of-two and a senior technologist she agreed she makes the most of the available gadgets. CONTINUED PAGE 2