| Hakim Hayat |
THE abundance of well-educated people with a solid support ecosystem presents vast potential for new business start-ups to thrive in Brunei and beyond, said a visiting US-based professional mentor, advisor and investor for several American tech-related start-ups and companies.
Rekha Pai Kamath, who is also on the selection committee for TechWomen – a US Department of State initiative that seeks to connect global women leaders in technology with those in Silicon Valley, is in the Sultanate to engage with local entrepreneurs and young Bruneians on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related careers, while sharing her own personal journey in the tech industry.
In an interview with the Weekend Bulletin yesterday, she said that her interactions with several young Bruneians in the entrepreneurship and tech sector had been a positive experience, in face of their motivation and drive for success.
“One of the biggest advantages that Bruneians have is that everyone in Brunei gets a good level of education, even help and support for their higher education… and there is a rich ecosystem of people who are very motivated to start-up new companies,” said Kamath.
“The Brunei Government is focused on supporting these efforts, especially in entrepreneurial activity – through its initiatives such as DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) and paid internship programmes.”
Despite the lack of a diversified economy that limits job opportunities and industries in Brunei, Kamath said that she has received some amazing ideas from some local entrepreneurs willing to spend their efforts into exploring local and international markets.
“Successful business models look outside for markets, and I have seen a couple of successfully developed talents here, who go outside to find markets,” she said, while stressing that more role models are needed, as an example to show young Bruneians the way forward.
Commenting from her perspective as a tech expert, Kamath advised Bruneians to leverage on technology to explore different markets and solutions, both domestically and beyond Brunei’s borders.
“In my presentations I talked about sharing economy – technology has made it easier and more seamless to share information, marketing services and products, while the Internet allows Brunei to be connected to the rest of the world as it is to Brunei,” she said.
“The whole world is a market, and there is no reason why a talent could not be developed here to create a product or service, whether in Brunei or outside. When there is a problem in a community, you will be the best-equipped person to solve it and turn it into a business idea,” she further advised.
Commenting on Brunei’s high rate of unemployment, Kamath said that one way of tackling the problem would be creating opportunities for employment and providing job skills training to the unemployed, on level with existing and emerging local industries.
As an advocate of women empowerment in tech industries and STEM education, Kamath said that more and more companies in male-dominated societies are becoming aware of this and making various efforts to promote interest, attract and retain more women in tech jobs.
The demanding nature of tech jobs that offer little work-life balance is often the reason why women are not attracted to tech jobs, said Kamath.
“It is a hard place for women to be in the workplace as they work long hours and are on the job at all times, mentally and physically.We frequently don’t have much help at home… But today, more tech companies are trying to make working conditions more attractive, such as the ability to work from home.”
She observed that there is a good representation of women in Brunei’s Government and private sectors, but still said that it is difficult for women everywhere to compete in a male-dominated workplace. From her own experiences in overcoming the barriers of work-life balance, Kamath said that she has learnt how to manage her time, priorities and utilise a trade-off method to balance out her work and family.
“My family would understand that they won’t be seeing much of me at one period of time but later, I’d make up time for them,” she said.
On Thursday, Kamath delivered a talk on ‘The Silicon Valley Innovation Ecosystem’ and other entrepreneurship topics at the Design and Technology Building in Anggerek Desa Technology Park.
She also held special talks on STEM-related careers with students and members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).
Kamath is currently in Brunei on two programmes jointly organised by the US Embassy in Brunei Darussalam and DARe on Women and Entrepreneurship.
Her visit is also part of the US Speaker Programme Initiative, where Americans of various professional backgrounds are able to travel to foreign countries to meet with the foreign public and offer lectures, workshops and seminars to discuss American policies, society and culture.
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