Technology is growing rapidly globally. Many developing countries are working to create their own equivalent to Silicon Valley. We often hear about challenges facing women in technology in the US. But, in countries where very old fashioned roles for women are still the norm, the challenges are much greater. Luckily, one US organization is working to export the tactics it used to improve conditions at home.

Telle Whitney, CEO of the Anita Borg Institute (ABI) for Women in Technology, said that women in technology is a global issue. She told Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, about the organization’s plans to create local communities, or ABI cells, if you will, abroad. She said of the initiative, called ABI.Locals: “This is an effort to create local communities” that enable networking, support and learning for women in tech. She said there will be 17 communities in all, including locations in Tokyo and Africa.

Measuring up

ABI has been working with companies on how they can remove factors that might make their environments particularly inclement to women. Surveys that ask both women and men how they feel about policies are being conducted. “I believe passionately that what you measure, you will change,” Whitney said.

ABI is looking directly at companies’ cultures and commending the ones that are making efforts for women. Who tops Whitney’s list this year? Intel, whose CEO has come out in strong support of women in tech. “I really applaud their work,” she said.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Anita Borg Institute’s Women of Vision Awards 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE