The 10 Young and Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020

OCTOBER 2020

Robust Networks Accelerator for Digital Transformation

The

Tech Tomorrow Breakthrough Technologies inSupply Chain Management

10

Leader’s Viewpoint Leveraging Technology for a Better Tomorrow

Young and Inspiring

+

Businesswomen

to Watch in 2020

Redefining the Benchmarks i n H e a lt h c a r e

EDITOR’S NOTE Women in Leadership – The Future of the Corporate World There are times when we come across a person who is capable of completely overthrowing age-old perspectives, prejudices, and biases. Personally, I was slightly late to realize that I had a considerable amount of such people, all around me – Women!

Now, I am not exaggerating about anything, in any part of my previous sentences. The conversations I have had with my female colleagues, friends, and family members, the stories I have read about revolutionary women and their contributions to the society, all reassure my understanding of the limitless capabilities that women possess.

To give you examples that evidently justify my statements, I shall share a few instances. One of my colleagues never ceases to amaze and inspire me with her commitment, persistence, and sheer grit. She is a mother of two wonderful twin girls, works 40 hours a week, takes care of the girls, and has a YouTube channel about food and cooking, which has always been her passion.

Another example is a friend of mine who recently became a chartered accountant after three years of struggling with anxiety and clinical depression. The way she turned her entire life around with the right professional help and with unwavering confidence in her own strengths, is nothing less than inspiring.

Then comes my mother who has been a nurse for the last 34 years and does not want to retire. Being a nurse is not simply a job for her. She considers it as devotion to the discipline of

medical sciences and a responsibility towards those who seek care and healing. I saw this same excitement and drive throughout my childhood, and I have instilled the same within.

These instances may not be revolutionary or may not exhibit profound qualities. But, I believe, I have only seen the tip of the iceberg and that there is so much more to women which I am yet to learn. I shall write about that when I am qualified and experienced enough.

However, this edition, The 10 Young and Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020, exhibits the of stories for exceptional women contributing to the world through the organizations and businesses they are associated with.

One the cover we have Yoko Nagai, Co-founder and CTO of Varinos, Inc. – a specialist in nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) based genetic testing with the goal of using the genomic information that shapes life to advance reproductive and perinatal medicine related to the birth of life. Yoko’s unique ideas and methods have helped her to achieve many milestones in her pathway.

Other prominent names featured in this edition include, Ahlam Bolooki, the Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature; Alicia Asin, the CEO of LIBELIUM; Celia Pool, the Co-founder of Dame; Dania Arayssi, Founder of Gleam of Hope; Diya Peter, the Operations Applications Manager at Rosendin Electric; Leanne Holder, the Owner of BecauseRacecarBox and Vitamin Coffee; Linda Grasso, the Chief Operations Officer at Digital Business Innovation Srl; Martina Klingvall, the Founder and CEO of Telness; and Rebecca Burgess, the CEO of City to Sea. We hope you enjoy reading these inspiring stories as much as we did while curating them for you!

Abhishaj Sajeev

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COVER STORY

08 Yoko Nagai RedeďŹ ning the Benchmarks in Healthcare

ARTICLE 26

Tech Tomorrow

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Breakthrough Technologies in Supply Chain Management

46 Robust Networks Accelerator for Digital Transformation

Leader’s Viewpoint Leveraging Technology for a Better Tomorrow

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Ahlam Bolooki An Avid Reader and A Successful Implementer

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Alicia Asin

Making an Impact with 'Never Settle' Approach

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Celia Pool Taking a signiďŹ cant Steps Towards a Greener Planet

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Dania Arayssi

Diya Peter

Leanne Holder

An Epitome of Courage, Commitment and Compassion

Comprehending and Embracing Innovations for Future Growth Innovation

Converting Experiences into Unmatched Entrepreneurial Success

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Linda Grasso

A Lifelong Learner Making Exceptional Strides in Industry 4.0

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Martina Klingvall

An Epitome of Impactful Leadership

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Rebecca Burgess

Leading a Change, Impacting Lives, and Making the World a Better Place

Abhishaj Sajeev Editor-in-Chief

CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Executive Editors Rohit Chaturvedi Alex Spellman

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October, 2020

C O V E R S T O R Y

Yoko Nagai RedeďŹ ning the Benchmarks in Healthcare

creation of a future where the

“

“

I want to contribute to the

children who will be born are free from unreasonable pain and inescapable death.

Yoko Nagai, Co-founder and CTO of Varinos, Inc.—a specialist in nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) based genetic testing with the goal of using the genomic information that shapes life to advance reproductive and perinatal medicine related to the birth of life. Her unique ideas and methods helped her to achieve many milestones in her pathway.

- Richard Dawkins, The Selsh Gene

T

he current pandemic has hit the businesses in almost every industry, making it a deep fall of economy to witness. In such difficult times, we as in the world are in a great need of some exceptional and young leaders that can set examples by inspiring buds.

This edition focuses on avid leaders, who possess the ability to inspire and motivate others thus it's entitled, “The 10 Young and Inspiring Businesswomen to Watch in 2020.”

A Glimpse into Yoko's Life She studied embryology, the study of the birth of life, and used model organisms to research the mechanisms of hereditary diseases. After her PhD, she moved into the programming world of bioinformatics so that she could do genetic research more related to human diseases.

At that time, human genome research was flourishing all over the world and she was inundated with new knowledge every day. She was building a database of disease-related genes, with the aim of applying this scientific knowledge to the healthcare for people and treatment for patients. However, she was struggling to connect this knowledge to a useful service, and then she was recruited as a sequencing specialist at Illumina Inc. Joining one of the pioneering companies in genome technology has expanded her horizons. As she learned that services using genome sequencing technology were being developed and established as an industry around the world, her desire to launch a genomic medicine business in Japan grew stronger and stronger.

“

“

We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selsh molecules known as genes.

This led to start up a company with Yoshiyuki Sakuraba, who shares the same passion. In the first two years, they both concentrated on research and development, and in the third year, they focused on branding the company as a new kind of genome testing company and expanding overseas and new business.

One-Step ahead of the Competition In Japan, there are very few biotech ventures that can develop genetic tests based on genome analysis technology. Despite the progress of genome research in Japan, clinical application and practical use of genome technology has been delayed compared to the rest of the world. Especially in Japan, the genome industry has not developed because no one has challenged the development of a new market, which is small and risky at the time of its launch. Therefore, the company aimed to capture a large share of a new market by targeting a niche area with few competitors.

The Pre-implantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A), which uses genome analysis technology to detect chromosomal abnormalities that cause miscarriage and increase the success rate of pregnancy, was expected to become a very large market if it was introduced in Japan, a country that is one of the most infertile countries in the world.

While Japanese societies were researching the clinical usefulness of PGT-A, Yoko's company developed an “endometrial microbiome testing” that could lead to an understanding of the causes of implantation failure and a strategy to retain customers. By quickly initiating collaborations with opinion readers who are sensitive to new technologies, it has increased employees'

technical capabilities and expertise, and its clients themselves have become pioneers in the ďŹ eld.

The company's unique strategy of using the endometrial microbiome testing to optimize the environment in the uterus and transfer optimal embryos with PGT-A to dramatically increase the success rate of pregnancy received global attention.

Eradicating the Challenges Yoko states that the development of testing services using genomic analysis technology has not been easy. The company's greatest challenge in the development of endometrial microbiome testing is how it can minimize the effect of environmental bacteria, which could confuse when reporting the results.

It has been establishing a method to analyze low-biomass endometrial microbiota, since the uterine bacterial load is estimated between 100 and 10,000 times fewer bacteria than the vaginal one, thus, has been thought as sterile until several years ago.

NGS technology is so sensitive and exhaustive that it can detect bacteria in uterine, which contains extremely low biomass. On the other hand, bacteria exist everywhere, even in reagents used for the analysis. “If you don't eliminate the noise come from environmental bacteria, it could result in the false results, not as it really is,� says Yoko.

With her distinctive inventions on the protocol and data analysis method, the company has achieved to minimize the effect by

environmental bacteria and to establish the special method detecting the uterine-derived bacteria very sensitively.

As Yoko and her team tried to use the customer network and genomics knowledge they had built up in its previous jobs to commercialize preliminarily based technologies, what helped us the most was an investor who could assess the value of its services without a scale. “Without investors who understand science and reproductive medicine, we wouldn't be in business,” quotes Yoko.

For Her Yoko believes that by having young female executives talk about the diseases and physical characteristics unique to women, it can help to remove the deep distrust, anxiety and sexual taboos that women suffering from female-specific diseases think they shouldn't talk about. Also, half of her employees are women.

The company do not give preferential treatment or restrict voluntary and autonomous behavior because of gender. If there's one thing its executives do specifically for female employees, it works with them sympathetically to come up with solutions when they are struggling with female-specific health problems or illnesses. Yoko and her team also consider pregnancy and childcare to be a top priority, regardless of gender, as a valuable time and experience that enriches a person's life outside of work.

When asked about the myth of meritocracy, Yoko emphasizes that this is a difficult question to answer and states that she didn't know about the myth of meritocracy until today. She believes that being justly rewarded by individual merit and increasing corporate value through company sales and growth is a way forward, not a goal to be reached.

Varinos wants to continue to be a company with a sense of mission that uses the capital it raises to develop even more breakthrough products and services to innovate in medicine and industry, so that the development of human society benefits its descendants.

Embracing Technology Yoko states that in today's mature society, technological innovation is happening every day, and it is difficult to keep track of all the vast amounts of the latest technology and research results, but she want to be a "Type T" person who can look into other fields of technology, not a "Type I" person who delves into one field only.

There are many researchers and developers who are working hard to solve the various problems that surround us in our daily lives, such as environmental pollution, energy problems, physical disabilities, and loneliness. She was always impressed by the breakthrough ideas and solutions they come up with.

Yoko actively collects technological trends in the hopes that they will one day provide her with hints for the business.

Peek into Future The company have established the world's first clinical laboratory endometrial microbiome analysis test service and has already analyzed more than 8,000 samples. Using inhouse data, it continuously update its tests to be more accurate such that it can detect “species” level microbiome. It is aware that the human reproductive organs have a unique species of bacteria that are unique to each person.

By revealing more details about the genital microbiota of patients who are not improved by uniform treatments, it hopes to be able to select the most effective antibiotic treatments, probiotic or prebiotics that are personalized for that patient. It also want to remove the seeds of genetic diseases from families through genome analysis. And, are planning to develop the following tests: preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic diseases designed for Asian population, and preimplantation genetic testing for breast cancer and other polygenetic diseases.

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An Avid Reader and A Successful Implementer

L

iterature has been enhancing our lives since dawn of time, and so has reading culture. With a view to promoting the culture of reading and the richness of stories in all their forms, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature was launched in 2009 with 65 authors. It has grown continually, and in 2020 it hosted 205 authors from countries around the world to entertain and educate tens of thousands of visitors. The artistic vision and its development are taken care by its Director, Ahlam Bolooki. With her love for books, Ahlam has taken this festival to the next level.

Look around you and see if there is anyone who is demonstrating the values you want to stay true to. If you don’t have someone in your organisation, then look further afield. Read books by successful women. Watch TED talks, listen to podcasts and continue feeding your mind.

How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to entice the target audience?

We know our audience, but to make sure we are on the right track, we ask for their opinion on a continuous basis. As a Foundation, we balance the desires of the audience with the needs of our community, which is how we have arrived where we are today: with the biggest literature Festival in the Middle East, a plethora of competitions, a wide-ranging Education Programme, celebration of and professional development for librarians, and courses, talks, and special initiatives that all build the foundations for a reading society.

In an interview with CIO Look, Ahlam shares a glimpse of her journey and how this festival is captivating its visitors from different corners of the world.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Kindly take us through your journey.

Before joining the Festival, I spent many years working with Dubai Tourism, most recently as Head of Regional Campaigns. There is a lot of synergy between the two roles, and I learned a lot that I bring with me to this role.

For the Festival specifically, we have a theme every year, so we always look at how an author and their works fit with our theme. But we are also an organisation full of readers, so we have our own personal wish lists as well as those our community sends us.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of having a role model. A mentor is even better. Everybody needs someone to learn from no matter how high up the ladder we reach.

Every year we aim to have the perfect combination of well-known and new, best-selling and niche, across

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Ă hlam Bolooki Director Emirates Airline Festival of Literatue

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“Aim high, and don’t be afraid of failure. It is only through small failures that you can refine and improve your strategy.”

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non-fiction, fiction, adults and children’s books in both Arabic and English.

businesses, popular genres etc. becomes necessary.

Work life balance has always been a challenge for me, but the more I immersed myself in jobs which give me purpose and become a lifestyle, the more balanced my life has been feeling.

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

We are the biggest and best loved celebration of the written and spoken word in the Middle East. While we don’t rest on our laurels, we do see our biggest challenge as pulling in those who don’t see themselves as readers. Those are the people we need to convert, so in a sense we are competing with cinemas, restaurants, and every other activity available at that time.

Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment?

Championing gender equality is a core value at Emirates Literature Foundation. This is apparent in our team culture, as well as our Festival Programme. Each year, we welcome some of the most powerful female voices from around the world.

To address this, we use creative and often surprising programming and marketing, which has worked well in the past.

Within our organization, we offer flexibility to all our employees because we know this allows us access to a wider candidate pool of talented, experienced people, including working mothers. We believe in the importance of healthy family life and appreciate the vital roles of women within their families. We see worklife balance as a necessity for a hopeful future for our society. In our experience, this flexibility and work-life balance allows women to contribute more effectively and wholeheartedly to their roles.

What, according to you, are the vital traits that every businesswoman should possess?

Our CEO and founder, Isobel Abuhoul OBE, is someone I look up to in business. She leads by example, treating each member of staff and the community with the same level of respect regardless of gender, age, or nationality.

Thirteen years ago, she saw a gap in the market and set out to create the festival to fill it. She could see the tremendous impact reading for pleasure has on individuals, and on society as a whole. She knew that if she could bring to Dubai a celebration of literature that was fun and would engage a wider section of the community than the regular readers, it would take hold and have a real and lasting impact.

How do you cope up with capricious technological trends to boost your personal growth?

My favourite tools for personal growth are books, audio books, and podcasts. The most important technological trends are talked and written about, and the publishing process has the quality control and review process in place to ensure that the information you receive is verified.

She then did what any entrepreneur does: put in a lot of incredibly hard work. There are no shortcuts. Success takes grit and determination.

What are your future endeavours/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?

What roadblocks or challenges were faced by you in a corporate business? And how did you overcome them?

My objective and ambition are always to connect as many people as possible with books and authors. We know reading creates empathy, and that is what we need most of all in the world today. Empathy and empathetic action towards others, towards our planet and to ourselves.

I think in our role, pleasing so many different audiences in Dubai's remarkably diverse community is always a challenge, but one that I enjoy very much. Always keeping on top of the local and global conversation when it comes to trends, behaviours, interests, politics,

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Leader’s Viewpoint

Leveraging Technology for a Better Tomorrow Jessica L. Ollenburg CMC & CPCM

limitations, accuracy, standards, and ability to manipulate data. The goal for our organizational improvement is to control, guide and use information to our advantage. I pay infinite respect to the best of the best! Information lies in the hands of all, and all need to recognize their own roles and business-driven incentives within that framework.

B

eyond today’s obviously critical arguments, the longer-term business leadership opportunities lie within reshaping how we approach technology. A bit of a math and science geek myself, my entrepreneurial know-how most easily rests in realms of invention, technology, financial strategy, operations efficiency, and behavioral anthropology.

Future technology should reinstate more active human judgment into the process, and improved problem solving in business and in life will be the result. Once we can agree upon the expectations and findings of data technology, we will be empowered in crisis management and facilitating change. Failure to agree upon facts stifles our ability to solve a problem or capture an opportunity, and while participative management remains the most commonly deployed leadership style, managed expectations are essential.

Today’s technology can build software for the purpose of building other software. This in fact allows many technology “thinkers” to skip the building blocks of binary thinking, which is arguably essential to logic as well as predicting flaw. At the tech development level, an opportunity exists to better prepare our developers to better understand user expectations and the need for human judgment to collaborate with data.

As we scrutinize today’s technology, this old-time programmer corroborates that not all self-proclaimed tech gurus truly grasp how the CPU “thinks.”

Technology is “breaking” frequently, many are collecting data and misapplying, and much-needed human judgment is being extracted from critical problem solving.

Not only can we create a data-driven case to support any chosen narrative, but the same minds can as quickly and easily debunk that same “proof.” With every new tool comes the responsibility to learn safety protocol, and with data comes the responsibility to teach how data can be manipulated.

We can create better invention and problem-solving organization-wide through the teachings of capabilities,

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About The Author Jessica Ollenburg, CMC, CPCM is Managing Partner at Ollenburg LLC, an award-winning executive consulting firm specializing in leadership playbooks, employment law and entrepreneurial ventures.

Analysis should be ideally collaborative between right and left brain thinking, as evidenced by the best problem-solving models. Expectations of what technology can and cannot do should be well-grasped and communicated throughout an organization.

Technology should not dull the mind but should allow it to further stretch and advance. Technology should not make us lazy. The use of graphics should not interfere with data and independent thought but should rather engage better use and visual memorization skills.

between threats. Where there is business risk, there may be opportunity for silver lining improvement… an exploratory exercise of possibilities.

As we continue to rethink the terms “blue collar,” “gray collar” and “white collar,” we need to ensure equal respect for everyone’s genuinely best contribution, understanding outcomes measure the success. As today’s organizational roles should capture historic learning to keep the best, discard the worst and improve upon the partially successful practices; we need to constantly re-evaluate who should be designing our organizational technology.

As an inventor, most of my notable inventions have been related to information and technology, especially at the integration of the two. My earliest published project explored sine wave grading perception in humans, proving the uniqueness of “seeing” from one human to another. The next collaborative project built an interface between two leading tech platforms to avoid re-keying data, to speed operations and to avoid human error. This interface is universally used today, yet top executives initially argued “It cannot be done.”

End users, middle-management and highest-level executives must all weigh in and form consensus, as technology delivers both information and operations.

Data collectors, analysts, end-users, and key executives should each weigh in for best results. No valid perspective should be irrelevant.

(It can be done, it was done, and it works great.)

Several next endeavors created software utility.

Consecutive missions relabeled everyday business terminology, and the strategic relabels then successfully drove behavioral improvements by safeguarding goal alignment. Through each of these and many more inventions as an entrepreneur leading change, I can attest that still too many leaders underestimate the power of information, good and bad.

Technology, communication and problem-solving are critical organizational powers, heavily intertwined. Our best future relies upon both the proper capturing and the harnessing of those powers.

In the schemata of managing crisis or facilitating change, the fear of the unknown needs to be addressed.

Whereas we cannot create panic which threatens, we cannot create an opaqueness which threatens either.

As a crisis management “go-to” myself, I can verify that experience in what works and what does not is critical to the expedite.

During the expedite, we properly sequence and channel audience-appropriate information to minimize panic and minimize fear of unknown. We lawfully architect the plan for very real and very effective outcomes. We quickly diminish the threat and build assurance. In coordinating others as swiftly as needed, data and human judgment are critical to the success and to the risk-management defense.

As we move forward with emerging technologies and as we continue to endure current and forthcoming battles, business leaders are called upon to carefully evaluate how technology and communication are deployed, how expectations are managed, and to ensure there are no needless lapses in the development and engagement of our best strengths in human judgment. Artificial intelligence is a fabulous resource if well-programmed, well-understood, risk-managed and aligned with our true goals.

In cases of COVID risk management and response, each of these protocols are essential. Where there is health risk, there is health risk of panic… a juggling act

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Tech Tomorrow

Breakthrough Technologies in Supply Chain Management O

ver the decades, the supply chain industry is vastly increasing on a global scale. Businesses are starting to expand at an exponential rate providing their products in multiple cities and countries. From the transport of raw materials to the final product, the supply chain industry has to take a lot of things into consideration including safety, tracing, and efficiency. To solve these issues at hand implying the use of modern technology to enhance the process of entire supply chain plays a game changing part.

Automation Process Inclusion of robot in manufacturing have eliminated the possibility of errors and speeding up the process unimaginably. There has been a rapid increase in the number of robotic automation in companies as robots carry out jobs seamlessly and in coordinated manner. Drones are being used to to reduce the time of inventory check and monitor overall process.

Artificial Intelligence

So, the supply chain industry has started to use computerized tracking and real-time visibility, which allows tracking for the entire chain process from transport till invoice. It’s more reliable and efficient. Digitization in SCM is a huge step as you can track the supply easily at your fingertips using smartphones and GPS installed devices.

Recently use of AI have been up surging and people use it on daily basis without even knowing it. AI tends to provide beneficial in all industries, including supply chains. With the amount data in supply chains growing every day, the need processing solutions has become more crucial. Many companies are utilizing AI for language processing, production planning, maintenance, algorithmic advancements and many more. AI can also be used in visual inspection to identify damage and take appropriate action based on it.

This revolution in technology is much more flexible offering to make adjustments to the supply chain on the go, enhancing the experience of the services overall giving a cost reduction, improved efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Advanced Analytics Adopting the new technology and implying them in supply chain will always give you a transparent process. Here are some technologies that can help to make supply chain experience more significant and capable.

Advanced analysis gives you more insight providing you more accurate data that supports your decision making. It can be further used in areas like pricing, product quality

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testing and optimizing inventory space and value. Through the good use of analytics, we can analyze your previous sales and identify patterns that were made based seasonality, transport activities, market activeness.

Examining these patterns can help in predicting the sales.

the parties involved a further insight of product in development process.

Blockchain Blockchain has decentralized information that means you have transparency, immutability, and complete access to your ledger anytime. Blockchain can also provide supply chains database, verification, security, analytics and identity managements. Also it offers services to supply chains that closely look after automation, traceability, and security.

Captivating Experience Amalgamation of technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) with smartphones, wearable devices, and sensor-implied environments captivates applications of AR and VR beyond segregation. Many leading supply chain companies use these platforms to make crucial tasks easier. Using VR’s capability to create a specific environments to test their product and ensure its safety and make changes accordingly. Enhanced virtual and augmented collaborations in real-time across multiples users helps is contributing drive down costs and also give

The whole concept of introducing the new technologies in supply chain management is to make the process more effortless. By allowing an easy to follow and seamless process, use of latest technology not only helps reducing costs but also minimize the risks in SCM.

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Dania Arayssi An Epitome of Courage, Commitment, and Compassion 34

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D

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

The aforementioned quote stands true to this exemplary personality that we take pride in introducing to our readers. This young lady has gone bounds and leaps towards all her social causes and her own personal ambitions.

This young woman named Dania Arayssi, strives towards remolding our society into an all-inclusive, unbiased, and empowering one. We at CIO Look, take pride in bringing you her story, her journey, and her aspirations.

Dania is a Lebanese activist, currently living in Denver, Colorado, where she is pursuing her second master's at the University of Denver, majoring in Public Policy. Dania says she chose this career because believes that government policies and principles play a significant role in building safe, inclusive, prosperous, and equal communities for everyone to live and contribute. She is also a researcher on women, gender, and sexual rights.

Dania is the founder of Gleam of Hope, a campaign that she established in the Summer of August 2018. Dania and her team of volunteers incepted this campaign to support women who needed mental health support, access to essential services such as food and medical care treatment.

Dania and her team also helped them build their resume and connected them with possible recruiters for possible job opportunities to empower women to be in charge of themselves and contribute to the community where they are.

In the following conversation with Dania, we receive more insights into her professional journey, her perspectives about equality, inclusivity, and public policies.

Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a young and proficient leader: I was raised in a beautiful family, from a strong, independent, and educated mother, and a dad who is willing to sacrifice everything he had, to make his daughters successful and happy.

Being an activist and a leader in Lebanon started when I was eighteen years old, when I became fully aware of my community challenges, difficulties, and the many stories of many women silenced by our community norms, traditions, and values.

They are silenced to express the kinds of abuses and violations they are experiencing, and they are the victims for their sexual and reproductive rights, their dignity, and their principles through domestic violence, sexual harassment, early child marriage, poverty, and unable to access and complete their education and be financially independent and active in their community. Especially, that I am from a society where the masculinity culture dominates the aura of the social system.

I started to listen to many stories of women in my neighborhood and then in my community, but I had no power or enough knowledge and the know-how to offer any kind of help; I was the listener for the pains.

However, those stories were the power that mobilized me to advocate for a Student Leaders Program funded by the U.S. Department of State and organized by them to receive a fully-funded scholarship to explore the full meaning,

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imperative to highlight the role of adopting a feminist methodology in structuring the social relationship in the community.

“We need government policies and regulations that strengthen the individual responsibility to contribute and protect the community.”

Unfortunately, in different global economies, especially third-world countries, and due to the lack of feminist education and persistence of traditional culture and mindset, we lack understanding of what a feminist theory implies when increasing women's inclusivity in a leadership position.

In the end, we, as community members and policy advisors, are looking to build long-term stable, inclusive relationships between community members through drafting, and issuing laws and regulation that allows for every community member to participate in decisionmaking without any discrimination based on gender, sex, or skin color.

strategies, and approach related to being a true leader in your community. The program was life-changing for me because I got to learn skills related to negotiation, proposal writing, advocacy, diplomacy, communication skills, and much more.

Through this program, I met peers and learned more about organization promoting change and advocating for a better system for everyone at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. During this trip, I identified girls and women as my primary focal point, which I want to help them speak louder for their rights and face their fears.

Do you think that the current quality of education being provided on gender quality and inclusivity is enough? What needs to be improved or scraped?

The US' education public policy is missing some vital consideration when providing an inclusive, safe, comprehensive understanding and application for gender equality, gender justice, linking them with the feminist theory lens.

Therefore, when I graduated from Georgetown University on Summer 2018, I came back to Lebanon, and I established the Gleam of Hope group where we were working with youth, women, and girls from different backgrounds, nationalities to build the needed skills, receive the necessary treatment and care, and make sure no one needs food in their community in parallel with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The missing areas in the education policy start from the early stages of education, mainly in the elementary, high school, and then in college. We need to provide students with spaces to discuss, share their stories, their personal experience, gender identities, and understanding of gender justice, feminism, and inclusivity while highlighting their knowledge to the other gender identity in a safe environment, including LGBTQ+.

Then, I decided to leave Lebanon and settle in the U.S. Denver, Colorado, to prepare for my second master's in Public Policy at Josef Korbel School of International Relations, University of Denver.

Here, I want to ensure the critical role of building a safe learning environment free from school-related violence. Violence can be physical, psychological, or sexual; it can occur on school grounds, in transit, or cyberspace; and it may include bullying, corporal punishment, verbal and emotional abuse, intimidation, sexual harassment and assault, gang activity, and the presence of weapons among students.

As a social activist, a public speaker, and a positive impact influencer, what is your opinion on the necessity of increasing the inclusion women in leadership positions?

The process of increasing the inclusivity of women in a leadership position is necessary to build a socially balance community relationship with less segregation and hierarchical gender uneven approach between men and women. However, the process requires a progressive and incremental change in the mindset of the community members and the local regulations and rules to create opportunities and spaces for women to participate in decision-making and being protected from violence, threats, and discriminations. It is also

It is often perpetrated as a result of gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics.

We need to draft laws and regulations that criminalize and prohibit those kinds of violence while encouraging local public and private schools to promote activities and spaces for students to share and increase their participation and understanding of those concepts.

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If given a chance, what is the one thing that you would change about the society or the world in general?

If I had the chance to promote one change in the world community, I would draft laws for youth representation in the economy's political life. By youth, I mean women, and men between the age of 25 to 40, should be represented in the political parliament or the government by a minimum of 30% from the total political representation, regardless of their sexuality, gender, or skin color.

In this 30%, 15% are men, and 15% are women to ensure equal political representation beyond any gender discrimination. The reason I insist on youth because they have the fresh ideas, strategies, power, and knowledge that can promote the sustainability and development of the entire socio-economic system in a secular approach, where I insist on building a secular political government where religion doesn't interfere in political representation or decision.

What according to you are the essential traits that an aspiring leader should possess?

A leader who is looking to promote a profound or a long-term change in the community should be a patient, resistant, listener, educative, subversive, social, communicative, and curious to explore and dive in the community issues and people stories to ďŹ nd the root causes of the problems and promote a solution that lasts in the long-term.

He/she is a leader who doesn't have a geographical or mental limitation and a person who can continue working outside of the comfort zone. When I started my

journey, many individuals criticized me, and attacked me, and refused to listen to me, and they were saying, you are not going to succeed, and you will fail, and your ideas don't ďŹ t the narrative, but I continued because you need to resist the outside negativities and stick with your goal.

What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?

I see myself as a professional researcher, senior professor, and policy advisor in the ďŹ eld of public policy for several local and international organizations and governments in helping them designing policies and regulations that can help their communities face the current millennium challenges while increasing their human development and prosperity for the best for the societies while mitigating the possible externalities or trade-off.

We need government policies and regulations that strengthen the individual responsibility to contribute and protect the community where he/she is located. The result of bolstering the individual responsibility will lead to establishing the collective responsibility of the entire community members to protect and contribute to the social system where he/she is located.

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Leanne Holder Converting Experiences into Unmatched Entrepreneurial Success

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stablishing a business always starts with a small idea: an adamant decision or a decision taken due to the circumstances. And the latter happened with this inspiring woman leader, Leanne Holder, the owner of BecauseRacecarBox and Vitamin Coffee.

The following conversation with Leanne highlights the circumstances that pushed her to pursue entrepreneurship, taking on the male-dominant industry, and the secret to retaining customers.

Here are the excerpts of the interview: Please share your journey on becoming a young and proficient leader It all started when I was made redundant from my job as a strength and conditioning coach. I was suddenly unemployed overnight at the same time as my partner! We needed income quickly and despite having two degrees (BA hons Dance and MSc Strength and Conditioning) there was just no luck when applying!

This is how the first business was formed – in a bid to make some cash

and quick! BecauseRacecarBox was built from zero and when we eventually found full time jobs, it was ran on the weekends and evenings and in any spare time possible until it grew to the point that I could quit my job and run it full time!

How do you diversify your organization's offerings to entice the target audience?

Diversifying to suit the customers' needs is most important. Your products are not always going to suit everyone, and it makes total sense to offer something for all budgets and for all types of customers. We have lots of different options on the websites for both businesses.

For example, BecauseRacecarBox offers a subscription service, but you can also buy a one-off box or

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Leanne Holder Owner BecauseRacecarBox & Vitamin Coffee

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‘

‘

I aim to encourage, inspire and motivate anyone in business or looking to approach business through honesty and sheer determination.

leave. Listening to the customer is also imperative to tackling competition as you need to be wary that competition will be waiting to pounce upon your mistakes!

What are the vital traits that every businesswoman should possess?

I believe that mental strength and an underlying confidence are very important. We are often patronised, looked down upon or not taken seriously and so being confident in your ability whilst also being able to shrug off any negativity is vital! It can be so easy to fold and to feel like you are less worthy of your position than your male business partner simply based on the way others treat you in comparison but with a strong determination to prove people wrong and a thick skin, you will start to totally ignore the comments and equally have a fantastic, well-rehearsed response for them!

alternatively individual products from the website to suit all needs and budgets. I have just launched in the last few months the first ever Pink Detailing Collection to target females within the automotive detailing industry and to shift away from the more masculine labels and scents that currently take up the market.

Vitamin Coffee also diversifies by having different blends and roasts of both coffee bean and vitamins to suit the individuals tastes and their lifestyles as well!

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

This is always tricky as you never know what any competition will do next. Luckily as both businesses are in niche areas there is very limited competition and often this is not direct but only similar which helps. I have always felt that competition is totally healthy, and it does not phase me, it is just making sure that we are always one step ahead as a business.

What roadblocks or challenges did you face in a corporate setting? And how did you overcome them?

Being taken seriously as a woman in comparison to my male business partner has been really difficult, especially when trying to establish the business within the automotive industry as the 'go-to' brand.

There have been times when a supplier has come over to chat business; seen me, walked past me, and shaken the hand of my colleague, not even considering that the business could have a female owner in a male-

Keeping things fresh and interesting for the customer so that customer retention is high is probably the best game plan ever; simply never give them a reason to

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dominated industry. Even customers often start an email with 'sir, Mr, lad, fella, gents, guys, chaps etc' perhaps assuming that the company is run by men. This can be extremely frustrating, especially in person!

platform as much as possible. I think finding a platform that suits you as your main way of communicating is smart and I have chosen Instagram as my go-to platform; however with new apps being created all the time I am finding myself sharing posts on multiple platforms at a time.

To overcome this, I have put people in their place by politely introducing myself as an owner of the business but at the same time I have also learnt to not get upset by this. I have tried my hardest through social media to make a stand for females in business and to ensure that people are educated that just because something is in a 'male dominated' space it does not mean it is not created by and run by a female!

Getting a scheduling app that posts to multiple platforms has really helped save me time; and equally looking for the 'new thing' in tech trends has been important. Ultimately, the key is to be one of the first on the app creating content to establish an audience early on! I am very keen on personal branding and know that it is imperative to keep up with all social media and any online platform possible in order to grow this!

Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment?

I would like to think so! I actively try to encourage other females to not be frightened to work in a heavily male environment and to push themselves into industries they are interested in regardless of how they may be perceived.

What are your future endeavours/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?

Scaling the business is the immediate objective at the moment. Hiring staff, creating larger moves within the industries that we sit and increasing our turnover and profit month on month. In the future I want Vitamin Coffee to be a household name and to have been the catalyst that gets people consuming vitamins daily without fail.

With the launch of the first ever pink detailing collection I hope to have empowered women to feel confident while cleaning their car and to find the process fun and enjoyable without any judgement. I want to motivate, encourage, and inspire other women in business and to ensure that they have the confidence to carry out their days knowing that they are worthy of their position!

I want all detailing enthusiasts to know about BecauseRacecarBox and that we are the brand to trust and to purchase from. I would also personally love to be able to help other women coming into the business world in mentoring and education based on my experience of doing this myself.

How do you cope up with capricious technological trends to boost your personal growth?

I try to keep up with current trends especially with social media and always try to establish myself on each

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Accelerator for Digital Transformation 46

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Robust Networks

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t’s not anymore a mystery how the evolution of technological era has taken place. Technology has revolutionized the perspective of the global population. The imprints of technological advancements can be seen in almost every sector. For example, blockchain technology is creating a digital record that verifies any transaction at a certain time and sequence, and AI is enabling new ways to interact with consumers via chatbots and artificial personal assistants.

The use of internet has brought people from the different corners of the world closer than before, and computers have simplified dataprocessing, analyzing the organization, and communication for individuals as well as businesses.

The one thing that keeps everything connected is Network.

Be it accessing the internet, downloading a file, printing documents or emailing an urgent presentation, a sound network infrastructure is required.

Networking Solutions have become a requirement of almost every individual and more importantly, businesses.

In today’s business world, companies are adopting ecommerce module to reach out to the customers globally and making their shopping experiences simpler.

In order to ensure the smooth running of such business modules, a suitable networking infrastructure is vital as it provides speed, connectivity, and ultimately value to the users as well as businesses, making it a win-win situation for both the parties. We can safely put that comprehensive networked systems are at the very heart of ecommerce.

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It has become crucial for businesses, irrespective of sizes, to have a robust network infrastructure as it is also counted as an essential component to enhance the agility and productivity of organizations.

Network Infrastructure, if developed effectively, enables businesses to maximize productivity, reduce operational costs, and manage complex consolidations. Moreover, managed network services help businesses run the applications that fuel their day-to-day business, enhance their communication and sharing tools, and improves business flexibility and agility.

Addressing Current Crisis If we consider the current pandemic situation, it has changed the way businesses operate and communicate. COVID-19 has enforced businesses to operate remotely. Employees working from multiple locations resulted in a need to inculcate integrated network monitoring solutions, as staying securely connected became a challenge. The chances of security risks and inherent physical limits like latency and bandwidth, which would hamper speed, seemed to occur for businesses.

Companies with sound network monitoring solutions were successfully able to fight against the business effects of COVID-19.

Adopting a network monitoring solution can assist companies in ensuring the smooth running of business networks and processes.It became evident that how secured network solutions can be resourceful in a crisis like situations.

In fact, the research suggests that industrial networking solutions market size is expected to grow to

| October 2020 |

USD 23.84 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.0% during the forecast period (2017–2022).

Security is Still a Concern Networking along with value-added features also increases the chances of cyber threats, which can make the company’s private data and emails vulnerable. Data being the core aspect of business requires high security. Businesses have immensely become dependent on computers and cloud technology to control large money transfers, store data, or communicate with the communities.

They cannot afford any kind of security breach. Thus, network security is a vital aspect of businesses nowadays.

Regardless of size, industry or nature of businesses, every organization can be a victim of cybercrime and thus, require a degree of network security solutions. Past instances of largescale businesses, who admitted a loss of their sensitive data due to an internal or external security threat, exemplify why network security is of utmost importance. They had to pay a huge amount to recover from a security breach.

Digitization has brought a drastic transformation in human lives as well as in the corporate world. Every business that aims at delivering products or services as per consumers’ demand must keep their network infrastructure secured, to earn the trust of their customers.

Network Security not only protects them from cyberattacks or threats, but it also protects the reputation of businesses.

Some common security threats active on the Internet are: Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, Spyware

and adware, Hacker attacks, Zeroday attacks, also called zero-hour attacks, denial of service attacks, data interception, and theft, and identity theft. Network security is available in the form of firewall protection, email security, anti-virus and anti-malware software, network segmentation, access control, application security, behavioural analytics, data loss prevention, mobile device security, security information and event management, VPN, Web Security, Wireless Security, etc.

Upcoming Trends Shaping the Future of Networking • Wi-Fi 6 The upcoming development in the field of wireless connectivity is WiFi 6. It is anticipated to change the face of networking solutions in the coming years by increasing the device density that can independently coexist in a single space without impacting the speed on a single device.

• 5G It is the most awaited high-speed networking technology that would be providing blazing fast internet speed. 5G will be competitive in terms of performance, speed and latency with wired connections currently.

• Digitized Spaces An intersection of IoT, sensors, mobile networks, and digitized spaces will make companies datasmart and derive deep customer and business insights by strengthening the networking solutions ecosystem for enterprise uses.

• SD-WAN SD-WAN is a framework that will be agiler, more robust and enable organizations to route a huge amount of network traffic based on

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centralized roles and rules, promoting high-end data security.

These trends are truly shaping the future of networking technology and are optimizing network performance for modern businesses. Harnessing the latest in the field of networking solutions, many network solution providers are developing integrated solutions to deal with the challenges businesses are facing.

Future is Promising With the above mentioned upcoming trends, one can safely assert that the future of networking solution is set to be revolutionized.

It doesn’t come as a surprise how new and emerging technologies have always driven networking best practices and will continue to do so.

For example, it is believed by many tech experts that a combination of machine learning and artificial intelligence will aid network managers to create next-generation networking solutions to achieve high-end security and optimize network performance.

To wrap it up, every size of business would require robust and secured network infrastructure to boost the performance of employees, productivity, and scalability. The current pandemic crisis has highlighted the need for integrated network solutions and how it can ensure the smooth running of businesses. Many network solution providers are walking an extra mile to come up with topnotch network security solutions to address the need of the small, medium as well as large scale enterprises. The pace at which the advancement in networking technology is growing with other evolving technologies and the future of networking solutions from here looks promising.

| October 2020 |

“The secret to success is a pinch of ambition, which leads you to achieve goals”

Linda Grasso Chief Operating Officer Digital Business Innovation Srl.

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LINDA

GRASSO A Lifelong Learner Making Exceptional Strides in Industry 4.0

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hinese Philosopher Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This adage truly resembles the journey of our next inspiring businesswoman, Linda Grasso, the Chief Operating Officer at Digital Business Innovation Srl. Linda loves her job and finds it very inspiring. Whenever she achieves the desired results, she feels highly satisfied. According to her, the secret to success is the pinch of ambition that carries her to the end goals. She seeks motivation to be always better and never stops learning.

At Digital Business Innovation Srl, Linda works through Industry 4.0 to successfully surf the waves of paradigm shifts to thrive in a revolutionary future. Let us see how she accomplishes it.

The Rise of an Intriguing Mind Since childhood, Linda engaged in activities that ignited ingenuity, challenges, and involved discovering new things. When the time came to select a profession, Linda knew in her heart that it was going to be engineering. Obtaining a master's degree with honors and practicing as an

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industrial engineer, she pursued a business career where she could do something, she was passionate about.

Linda strongly believes that the current technology is highly proficient in several industry verticals and can bring a lot of benefits to business processes. She says, “We help companies, both SMEs and Global Brands, demystifying the paradigm shift of digital transformation to thrive in a revolutionary future.”

Hence, she embarked on a path at an Italian innovative startup, Digital Business Innovation, as the Chief Operating Officer. Her mission in the company is the project management in the field of Industry 4.0, harnessing the power of the emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, Blockchain, Cyber Security, Smart Buildings, Fintech, Cloud SaaS, and 5G, through both operational and strategic approach.

Revealing her experience and responsibilities, she asserts, “Working as an executive certainly involves lots of responsibilities. You need to manage different aspects and do your best to reach high performances, optimize time and cost, and coordinate the pieces of the puzzle so that they can fit together.”

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Linda, therefore, employs the lifelong learner attitude and never stops learning. With an open and learning mind, she pulls the levers and moves the business arena to survive in an ever-evolving world.

“The fourth industrial revolution is driving the workforce transformation and it is important to analyze how women are involved in building the future of work; companies must build future strategies that work for women.”

Staying Relevant to the Industry Linda stays regularly active on social media channels such as Twitter and LinkedIn professionally. She consistently posts and shares insightful content about technology, digital transformation, innovation, business strategy, sustainability, and women leadership. Hence, she never misses out on any opportunity that can deepen and enrich her knowledge.

Giving a solution, Linda asks us to seek the trends changing the nature of work. She wants us to have a look at how the trends such as automation, demands for digital skills, the emergence of new work models, may impact working women and intersect with existing barriers to women's economic empowerment.

She asserts, “In my opinion, the answer to the real progress lies in our ability to apply humanity to the new changes that arise and humanity cannot absolutely ignore the achievement of gender equality in order to create a more sustainable world where we can combine skills to thrive together.”

Understanding today's interconnected world, tools, and staying relevant to the industry and clients, she says, “In today's interconnected world we have powerful tools not only to acquire knowledge but also to spread it with other people. And that is what I try to do with my audience.

Furthermore, Linda guides aspiring women citing, “My tip for the up-and-coming girls' generation is following what really fascinates them. And if it is STEM, welcome. It is an interesting field and there are excellent job prospects. There are so many things to learn in science, technology, engineering, and math, and, more, I read that 80% of future jobs will require STEM education, so why not? Plus, we really need more inspiring women in this field. In my small way, I try to do my best to encourage businesswomen to be brave and never stop in front of bias. We need to make a difference, building a better future, and leaving no one behind.”

The professional journey of Linda Grasso depicts the importance of having ambition and pursuing the things you are passionate about with utmost dedication. It is a journey that teaches us to stay true to the objectives, make the best of our circumstances, take on responsibilities that matters the most.

Followers notice the quality of your content and, if you want to keep them engaged, you need to reach their interest by conveying useful notions and giving a unique value.”

When asked what it feels like to be recognized as a business influencer, she quotes, “I enjoy being recognized as an influencer in my business field and I am glad when people appreciate my commitment. Being an influencer is the new paradigm in the enterprise communication strategy and raising awareness on thought leadership is thus particularly important.”

Women Empowerment through STEM Citing the empowerment of women in STEM as a favorite commitment, Linda believes that sustainability and gender equality are the keys to the world's economic development. Reflecting her opinions on the same, she says, “Despite the progress made over the years, gender equality is sadly far away in the workplace and we must advocate for change. Women are at the heart of development, and it is a matter of fact they would bring greater advantages within companies if given more representation.”

She closes on a positive note, “Where do I see myself in the future? Well, I live my life day by day and set no limits. I do not know what the future holds for me, I hope something surprising. Meanwhile, I enjoy the journey!”

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| October 2020 |

Martina

Klingvall An Epitome of Impactful Leadership

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“

isruption is a necessity quite like tilling the land. It brings fresh perspective to ideas that lose relevance with time!”

digital exchanges. It is in these times that Martina Klingvall Holmstrom, an engineer by profession found employment and a calling.

Everyone has heard of mobile telephony which in most cases remain the preserve of individual service providers covering, in most cases, entire countries or parts thereof. Very few cover the entire globe. The service in most cases are a mix of analogue and digital transmission with a steady push towards digitalization owning to better quality of service at reduced costs. This has been the scenario in the mobile-phone industry in most countries from the time the service came about.

Spending quality time with Sweden’s largest mobile phone operators, she did what most disrupters do in their initial years: Learn the ‘HOW’ of building customer centric telecom operations using digitization and the latest in technology that identify gaps to provide newer services to discerning clients looking for varied service offerings.

In the late 90s came the first wave of disrupters, the Mobile virtual network operator or MVNOs who in most cases were extensions to existing mobile operators having bought the latter’s services in bulk at competitive rates. These they sold ahead to consumers with or without their own customer-support systems.

The year was 2016 when Martina took a clean break from employment to start Telness which today, with an experience of half-a-decade, has its fair share of clients.

The Foundations

While Telness’ core business is that of selling mobile subscriptions like any other MVNO, it has added to its services with a cloud-based PBX Switchboard. But the service that brought Telness right under the arc-lights with all the attendant accolades is the development of a unique cloudbased telecom platform that has enabled the automation and digitalization of customer-

With most networks going digital in the mid to late 2000s, a new form of disruption has come about.

MVNOs working with multiple mobile operators providing services over digitized networks and in some cases like Telness, even with their own 56

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Martina Klingvall Founder & CEO

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experience journeys, both internal and endcustomer, right from purchasing its service to support tickets.

repetitive and trivial tasks which call for constant monitoring taking away valuable time and resources from client needs and attention.

Within the platform what remains outstanding is the 100% self-service and online sales to both consumer and B2B brands. In all, these have created benchmarks on how to succeed in a competitive market. Going beyond pricing, where Telness really scores over competition is its 100% digital service offerings that remains ultra-fast to accesses, and which additionally has its own dedicated customer-support team known to respond to customer enquiries in less than a minute.

Such a situation made it the perfect ground for the introduction of newer disruptive technologies that help automate core tasks to reduce time and pain points. In return, what one gets is the time and energy to concentrate on things that make a business customer-centric including gauging client needs accurately, be it in terms of services or pricing. In fact, it is precisely this strategy of Telness right from the time of its inception that gives it its decisive strategic edge over competition, be it from MNOs or other MVNOs.

According to Martina, people perceive the telecom sector as having loads of monotonous,

So effective has been this strategy of ‘controlled disruption’ that since its launch in 2017, Telness

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has onboarded thousands of customers making it a leader in the field with the highest number of happy customers in Sweden on Trustpilot. In doing so, Telness has proven to the world that its tech platform while making organizations lean in terms of costs, enables better business operations in a scalable and efficient manner that constantly takes care of the customers’ needs. It has made the field of telecom simple, hassle free and digital.

Being an entrepreneur of a sizable and respectable organization, she is quite correctly placed to bring positive change for other aspiring female entrepreneurs. At Telness, this translates into a number of steps including their admitted stand towards maintaining gender equality.

Be it of employees across departments, members of the Board or Management, a 50:50 parity must be maintained wherever possible. “We have had an active principle that we want an equal company. This means that we sometimes must have a man or a woman as the next recruitment for certain positions.

Exhibiting Distinction In these years, Telness has succeeded in going from an interesting idea to be an appreciated mobile operator that has set new standards in the market. Going forward Telness is now utilizing its unique platform to drive global telecom innovations by offering it as a SaaS to international operators that enables them to digitalize their services for the future.

At times it has been challenging to find female developers, they are fewer, but they are out there! You have to find ways to attract them and then an equal corporate culture is important,” says Martina.

A true newbie with the experience of a lifetime that has come about rather early in her life, Martina realizes the worth of remaining agile. In the field of telecom, that translates into the ability to embrace the latest in technology at the speed of light- precisely what she plans to do in the future.

On the ground what it means is that her unique platform shall find increasing acceptance among international telecom operators which shall enable them to digitalize into the future and stay ahead of competition!

The field of telecom is one that is characterized by the presence of challenges at every step. So how did Telness, a relative newbie take care of these and remain ahead of the curve? Simply by utilizing the uniqueness of its existing platform while remaining focussed to customer experiences and needs! In this it is helped immensely by its SaaS solution that has the potential to help international operators transform and accelerate their business, instead of witnessing their legacy slowly but surely decelerating their capability to innovate.

Redefining Empowerment

By embracing opportunities using modern technologies we are setting new standards in terms of innovation, and customer experience.

Martina and Telness are young in every sense. Add to that her being a woman. How did she manage to be where she is? She credits that to her ability to network with inspiring people who show others the range of possibilities. Being with them rubs off she says. It leaves one feeling inspirational, genuine and curious with the understanding that one’s vulnerabilities are not necessarily weaknesses but essentially strengths.

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| October 2020 |

Rebecca

Burgess

Leading a Change, Impacting Lives, and Making the World a Better Place

B

y working together, we can shape a future where profit is balanced alongside people and planet, so all life can thrive.

work, quite literally, is out there for everyone to see with single-use plastic littered everywhere.

The organization's most awarded campaigns have seen them tackling single-use plastics with a mix of practical, solutions-focused initiatives and championing for reuse over single-use. In these, they have involved diverse stakeholders like individuals, communities, employers, and retailers while inspiring and empowering everyone and being their critic and trusted peer.

These simple yet powerful words sum up her identity, her work, what it means to her, and to the world as we know it.

Rebecca Burgess. A person with a purpose. A purpose so profound, it is almost like it is etched into her subconscious, making it a second nature for her. With a strong sense of ethics, and experiences in a vast genre of fields that affect lives in its most holistic sense, bettering lives and the environment come naturally to her.

Behind every great cause lie great pains. For Rebecca's City to Sea, that pain is funding – a constant concern.

Like a committed strategist with limited resources, she has sharpened City to Sea's presence and USPs to focus on their impacts. These include innovations like the “Refill Campaign,” the world's first drinking water app, connecting the thirsty to a network of places ready to give them water for free. At present, besides the app going global, it has over 300K downloads and 30K businesses joining them.

For Rebecca, the journey has been of many hats, including being a journalist, a customer service rep, a PR executive, event organizer, partnerships consultant, and the likes. Two things remained central though: People and purpose.

With age and experience, came clarity. Working in areas as diverse as cancer-care, care for homeless people, caring for the environment by reducing plastics or even helping ailing children, she holds on to her original ideas while being as committed and passionate today, as she was in her first job.

Shortly, the app will be relaunched (with funding from the Volvo Visionaries Award) to guide people to places for shopping, eating, and drinking – while using much fewer plastics.

Today, Rebecca is the CEO of City to Sea, a not-forprofit organization and one of the world's pioneers in saving the planet from single-use plastic waste. Her

Rebecca's traits of awareness, trust, and determination are exemplified in collaborations with noteworthy causes like the Break Free from Plastic movement and

The mark of a leder

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Rebecca Burgess, CEO of City to Sea

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I think passion is vital in leadership.

REPEAT, a reuse task-force of industry experts, scientists, NGOs, Government officials, and retailers to reintroduce reusables back safely into business operations.

Experience has taught Rebecca that trust is a factor of time and honesty where time and being open, help repose people's faith. “The helm can be a lonely place despite all the successes,” Rebecca expresses. “It is in these times that I draw strength from Natalie Fee, their founder, who continues to represent City to Sea on various platforms about the devastating effect that plastics have on our oceans,” she adds.

place to be in, in times of crisis. She believes that being the holder of the helm, one can plan course changes to set the business safely out of choppy waters.

City to Sea's senior leadership help create an open, caring, and supportive environment at work, made up predominately by women. It makes City to Sea accessible to people at large, quite unlike most businesses and corporate bodies.

With plastics being used by the tons especially by the medical fraternity, not out of choice but of necessity, and the pandemic playing havoc with social distancing, City to Sea's hands may be full with concerns of singleuse plastics, but its feet remain tied down due to frequent lockdowns and much-needed social distancing.

Incidentally, the presence of these women and their experiences lead to a campaign for 'plastic-free periods' where the ills of using plastic-backed menstrual products on human health as also on the environment were highlighted quite prominently.

However, Rebecca, with assuring confidence, states that no sooner do matters improve, she will be back with a bang to try and eliminate common single-use plastics found polluting our rivers and oceans. To this end, she plans to shine the light and lead the way from single-use to reusables. And in that, all of the world ought to rally behind City to Sea.

Swimming against the tide Rebecca states that a leadership position or the helm remains the one place which gives her an unrestrained view of what lies ahead and considers it as the best

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