The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised 2nd Edition of “PINK IT” on 3rd March 2023 at Five Mad Men, Kolkata, a unique forum for women IT professionals and entrepreneurs to get together to discuss similar or unique challenges they face, dreams they have, success stories they have made, to raise voice together for celebration or for seeking help.

The Bengal Chamber believes that it is important to understand women employees' needs, wants, and aspirations in this sector so that more women leaders emerge.

The focus is not just to increase gender equality in the workforce but to also catalyze more number of women leaders in technology sector.

Mr. Manojit Sengupta, Co−Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Delivery Centre Head − Eastern Region, Tata Consultancy Services Limited formally welcomed all.

Ms. Angana Guha Roy Chowdhury, Assistant Director General, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry moderated the forum.

Ms. Sing Jheng, Director, Taipei World Trade Centre, Kolkata, Guest of Honour of the programme, shared her journey from Taiwan to Kolkata. She said that despite the global under representation of women in STEM, Taiwan is making significant strides towards gender equality, ranking sixth worldwide out of 163 countries and leading Asia in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. Diversity and inclusion have been shown to enhance firm performance, profitability, governance, and sustainability. PINK IT aims to increase gender equality and promote women leaders in tech. To achieve this, we need support from society, government, industry, and family. We must break gender stereotypes and respect and empower all voices, groups, ethnicities, and religions.

Our Lead Speaker Ms. Anjali Gupta, Group Head−Marketing, Sify Technologies Limited shared importance of 'asking for it' if women professionals believe that may innovate, take risks and shoulder more responsibilities.

Ms. Minal Bhagat, Director, Ensonic Computech Pvt Ltd highlighted the difference between strength and skill. These are often both perceived to be same. It is important to leverage the strength and apply the skill. Importance of negotiation was also cited by her.

Ms. Aunkita Nandi, Co−Founder & Managing Director, Tier5 Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd. emphasized on the power of sharing and the potential reach social media provides us.

Ms. Amrita Mukherjee, Talent Acquisition Lead, Tata Consultancy Services articulated the landscape of workforce in the coming few years. With most baby boomers retiring by 2022, a wide range of opportunities are emerging in technology industry. Organizations are realizing the importance of retention over recruitment. Possibilities of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are gaining momentum for satellite hubs.

Fresh but matured thoughts were shared by Ms. Sushmi Saha, Software Engineer, LTI Mindtree −Gen Z values importance of role, its recognition, and the flexibility of working on and off from home, office and other places.

We had 75 women participants in the forum. The discussions were followed by a vibrant interaction with the participants.