Development of digital goods and services needs to be inclusive to meet the needs of diverse global users. Yet, women and other vulnerable groups remain underrepresented in the digital sector. As digital technologies increasingly underpin how we work and live, it becomes equally crucial for underrepresented groups to have a voice in shaping and creating these technologies, to ensure these do not perpetuate bias and discrimination. Digital technology companies are influential towards achieving digital inclusion of underrepresented groups through the employment they provide, the R&D they undertake and the products and services they deliver globally.
For a digital technology company, representation of minority groups is even more important in the tech teams that build products and services. Increasing the number of underrepresented groups (beyond gender) involved during the design process leads to more innovation in the development of digital products and services.
Companies need to exhibit leadership in diversifying their technical workforce, moving past the common lament that those with requisite skills are not available. If the educational system is failing, companies need to take concrete actions to preserve their resilience and adaptability in a changing world.


Research Guidance:

The company discloses quantitative workforce data for employees in STEM, ICT, engineering, or R&D-related roles, broken down by at least one underrepresented group, such as gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation.
The company must report percentages for employees working per technical role.
For gender, sex-disaggregated data (e.g. proportion of women in R&D) is acceptable.
The data can be reported at any level (subsidiary, country, regional, or group level) as long as the role-specific and demographic breakdown is clearly presented.