Jakarta, 18 August 2022. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) continues to realize the commitment of women's empowerment by increasing the expertise of female employees in mastery of digital technology. For this reason, XL Axiata together with Microsoft Indonesia held the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to implement Code; Without Barriers (CWB). The signing is expected to also present a healthy ecosystem and open greater opportunities for female talents to become the driving force of innovation in the field of technology and digital. The signing of this partnership was carried out by the XL Axiata Human Capital Officer Chief Officer, M. Hira Kurnia and Microsoft Indonesia's Chief Financial Officer, Krishna Worotikan at XL Axiata Tower Building Jakarta, Thursday (18/08).
Director & Chief Strategic Transformation Officer of XL Axiata, Yessie D Yosetya said, "XL Axiata is committed to improving the skills of female employees in the company, including mastery of digital technology. Through the implementation of CWB programs, such as hackathon, guidance, to support from business leaders, we hope able to increase the digital expertise of XL Axiata female employees and also apprenticeship employees. We will encourage these employees to show their technical abilities by creating awareness, challenging assumptions, and taking advantage of the world of coding, technology, and data science."
Yessie D Yosetya, who is also a Chair of G20 EMPOWER Indonesia, added, "This CWB program is a collaboration program between G20 EMPOWER and Microsoft, where the XL Axiata as one of the advocates of the G20 EMPOWER is committed to increasing the development skills of female employees through this program."
This program is expected to provide changes in the organization. First, able to develop and improve the ability to the role of women in XL Axiata through gamification, especially related to Azure Fundamental, Microsoft Product and Services, AI Data, and Azure Enablement. Second, the development and improvement of knowledge for students who take part in Kampus Merdeka Certified Internship Program. The participants, in this case the female employees and participants of the apprenticeship will attend the training that has been prepared for one year.
Meanwhile, Fiki Setiyono, Country Lead - Azure GTM Microsoft Indonesia which is also Code; Without Barriers Lead Microsoft Indonesia said, "We are optimistic that the participation of XL Axiata in the Code; Without Barriers program will accelerate the pace of women's empowerment in Indonesia, especially from the digital side. This will further have a positive impact on inclusive digital economic growth in Indonesia. The cloud and AI have become the foundation of digital innovation today, so that the participation of women in this realm will further increase the power of Indonesian innovation. Together, let's encourage inclusivity in empowering Indonesia."
Until now, the total number of female employees at XL Axiata has reached 470 people or around 30% of the total employees who reached around 1,560. The company targets around 30% of female employees to become participants in this CWB program.
Code; Without Barriers program was first launched by Microsoft in Asia Pacific in September 2021. At least 13 companies and 21 developers in the Asia Pacific have become partners of this program. Since its launch, this program has also run 18 Women In AI certification programs in eight countries in the Asia Pacific, training more than 480 women, and issuing certification for 203 developers.
XL Axiata and Microsoft Indonesia believe that diversity aims to train women from companies. In addition, this collaboration is also expected to further open work access and career development for women's talents in Indonesia more broadly, and encourage the involvement of female technology leaders in conducting coaching and mentoring to inspire and empower more female talents.
Furthermore, both parties hope that this collaboration will also be able to overcome gender gaps in the cloud sector, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital technology that develops so rapidly. This program provides a platform that allows developers, coders and other technical talents to contribute to inclusive economic growth, and encourage innovation.