Innovation Saskatchewan is responsible for implementing the province’s innovation priorities and helping grow Saskatchewan’s tech sector. Effective April 2022, this includes operation of the Innovation Place technology parks in Saskatoon and Regina.
Interview with Ethical Digital CEO Katrina German
If technology is the future, then everybody should be involved in creating that future. At least, that’s what Ethical Digital and its Founder Katrina German believe and why they work toward changing the trajectory of the Internet to be a more inclusive space.
It’s not surprising then that after realizing the lack of women who identified as Indigenous in Saskatchewan’s tech scene, German took action with her Ethical Digital team to make a difference. The result is the newly launched Indigenous Women in Tech research project with the goal of increasing the number of Indigenous women involved in Saskatchewan’s tech industry.
“There is an entire group of people who are not getting their stories, their products and things that will make their lives easier out there,” said German. “We want Saskatchewan to be the leader of having Indigenous women involved in technology in Canada.”
German is hoping the project will be the catalyst to connect conversations already happening on this issue and in these spaces and drive action to make involving more Indigenous women in tech a priority and provide this underserved population with strong, meaningful jobs.
With assistance from a Women and Gender Equality Canada federal grant, the two-year project will occur in two phases. The first year will concentrate on research, conducting interviews with at least 100 Indigenous women (German’s ambitious team is aiming for 1,000 interviews) as well as tech startups to identify barriers, needs and possible solutions from both perspectives. The second year will focus on implementing these recommendations through programs with participating tech companies and partnerships within their advisory panel, thereby reducing or removing barriers for women entering into careers in the tech industry.
The team is also hoping to help identify transferable skills these women possess and demystify the tech industry to show the wide variety of career pathways available like marketing, accounting and yes software development.
“Our superpower is bringing things out of academia and making them applicable to industry. We don’t want to just talk about this issue, we want there to be change and to figure out how to bridge this gap,” said German.
The project aligns with the Government of Saskatchewan’s goal to triple the growth of the Saskatchewan tech sector by 2030. It will be a boost for tech companies in Saskatchewan wanting to get involved, especially those with a high growth and demand for workers, because it will provide a previously untapped reserve of skilled labour. German also notes that diverse companies are 19% more profitable than monolithic companies due to innovation. “If you want to be building a strong business for the future, you need to be thinking about diversity,” she says.
Ethical Digital has already seen tremendous support for this project especially with partnerships, assembling an Advisory Committee composed of key players in Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan and the tech innovation space, including Innovation Saskatchewan, WESK, Co.Labs and Cultivator. Additionally, Project Coordinator Tara Oliver and Discussion Facilitator Alexandra Jarret are driving action behind the scenes to build foundational trust for both these communities.
German says this support from strong leaders and for the two communities working together makes her confident the project will drive action and change.
“We want this to be from the tech industry and from the Indigenous community,” said German. “We've got a lot of the right people who can make these changes happen from the tech side and within the Indigenous communities. This is an opportunity to spark conversations between the two communities, pour some gas on the spark and make change happen.”
For Indigenous women or tech companies looking to get involved in this project, please email tara@ethicaldigital.ca.
