INTERVIEW: Digital Leadership Institute (DLI) founder Cheryl Miller (pictured) held up Vodafone as an example of the work mobile players can do to encourage women.

Miller said: “I understand it is Vodafone’s mission to be the best employer in the world for women”, adding she often cites the company when advocating best practices.

For instance, the operator launched two major initiatives designed to increase opportunities for women in the workplace and “enhance life prospects for women in emerging markets” in March 2017.

However, Miller said, overall, very little is being done to target girls and women and DLI wants to partner with players in the mobile space for its latest apprenticeship programmes.

The idea is to take women with no tech knowledge, place them in a technological environment and, within three years, teach them to become experts in their areas of interest, such as mobile, cyber security, cloud computing and big data.

The Brussels-based international think tank promotes works on grassroots programmes to address what Miller described as a “leaky pipeline” and get more girls and women into tech.

To watch the full interview click here.