Mariam Basajja, Driving the Women in Technology Movement

Growing up, Mariam Basajja wanted to be a successful and influential woman. This feeling was inspired by her parents’ unwavering belief in her and her capabilities.

And fast forward, it wouldn’t be erroneous to say that Basajjahas achieved her dream. The light coloured, beautiful Phdcandidate has gone where no one has gone before, by playing a huge role in organizing the first-ever African Women in Technology (AWIT) conference in Uganda.

The two-day conference, which is being held at Kampala International University’s main campus in Kansanga, GgabaRoad in Kampala, aims at providing opportunities and safe space for women to grow and lead in the tech space.

Organizing the conference in her role as Ambassador between Kampala International University and AWIT, Mariam was driven by her need to disprove the overwhelming belief in Africa that women are incapable of leading the way in the business spectrum, especially IT.

“The majority of people in Africa think that a woman cannot hold her own in IT, because it is a male dominated field. This is wrong.”, the soft-spoken Basajja told this reporter.

And if there is anyone better suited to spread this message, then it is Mariam. The young lady is already in line for a Phd in Computer Science, which she is pursuing at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

This is not to mention her Masters degree in Advanced Computing, Machine Learning, Data Mining and Hi-Performance Computing. She also oversees the ICT department at KIU and has established an IT firm.

This goes a long way in showing how Basajja is leading the way for other women to venture into the male dominated, but opportunity-laden ICT sector.

“At the end of the day, we hope to have bigger numbers of women in AWIT and also have them engage in more conferences of this kind, to improve their knowledge of the sector.”, Mariam said of the conference, which is a brain child of IBOM LLC, a New York based business consultancy firm, owned by another inspirational woman, Nigerian-born American Anie Akpe.

This inspirational lady is not all-work-and-no-play.

She enjoys reading books and swimming, when she is not championing the Women-in-Technology cause.