“Technology brings incredible benefits, but it isn’t fair if some communities are excluded” Jyoti Choudrie, Professor of Information Systems

My parents had a modern approach to education and supported me through my degree, PhD and Masters at Brunel University. I loved it there, but after six years I found it impossible to get a promotion. Information Systems was a predominantly male industry, and being a woman of ethnic background presented a challenge. I was devastated to be overlooked, but I am not someone who is comfortable raising my voice. I am not a rebel and I couldn’t see any point in pushing back, so I chose to take my career elsewhere.

I was offered a Senior Lecturer role at Swansea University which provided wonderful opportunities. However, I felt I needed to be close to my parents as they were getting older. This meant commuting to and from London and, over several months, this took its toll.  I decided to look for something closer to home and was delighted to be appointed as a Reader of Information Systems and then the first female Sikh Professor of Information Systems in the UK at the University of Hertfordshire.

Three role models have been hugely important in my career. My parents and brother for supporting, encouraging me to pursue education and to remain persistent, dedicated to my goal. Professionally, Professor Cathy Urquhart, who heads up the women’s network for the Association of Information Systems (AIS), has been a great support to me over the years and is very encouraging of my work around the societal impact of technology. Nancy Pouloudi, the President of the AIS, is also an inspiration. I enjoy attending AIS conferences all over the world – meeting people and exchanging ideas – and I was delighted to win the Tech Women 100 award in 2019.

My interest in the adoption of new technologies was sparked in 2002 when I visited South Korea as part of a trade delegation. Our goal was to learn how different communities were being encouraged to use the new broadband network. The Government had acknowledged that different groups would need different levels of encouragement to ‘go digital’, and they had put active programmes in place to support older people, housewives, people with disabilities and other groups to ensure broadband was adopted widely. This is a society which recognises some people need ‘training wheels’ to get them started with new technologies and I have investigated this issue in other parts of Asia including Japan.

My academic work currently involves exploring the acceptance of innovative technologies with my research focussed on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on older adults. I believe business leaders who rely on customers adopting new technologies for their growth, can learn from academic insight. For example, while industry is very aware of the power and possibilities of AI such as Co-Pilot, adoption outside the commercial world is very low.

I was introduced to the IoD when I attended an event at 116 Pall Mall related to my work with South Korea. While I was there, someone explained how I could join and all the benefits and facilities which would be available to me as a member. Now my brother has also joined.  We are both part of the Africa Special Interest Group and I have joined the Japan Group. Being part of these groups has enabled me to get more involved with the IoD, and make a contribution. I was delighted to be asked attend an event at the Kenyan High Commission which was a huge thing for my family!

Technology brings some incredible benefits, but it isn’t fair if some of our communities are excluded from these advantages. As well as my work at Hertfordshire University, I volunteer with a number of organisations to raise awareness of the importance of digital inclusion for disadvantaged groups. I am a board member of Hillingdon Health Watch, support Age UK and the YMCA to access more online fundraising tools and speak in Panjabi on Desi Radio about how new technologies are affecting society.