Profile: Chairperson & Founder, e Worldwide Group      

 

A technologist and philanthropist, proven to be a visionary leader with dynamic drive and positive energy, Salma Abbasi motivates both, professionals and civil society. She has nearly 30 years experience in the field of technology and business process reengineering.

Salma started her career in 1981 in Silicon Valley as a design engineer for AMD and rapidly progressed holding a series of diverse executive management positions in fortune 500 companies; engineering, manufacturing, quality assurance and reliability, international business development and customer satisfaction. This rich experience has given her unique capabilities, knowledge and understanding to think outside the box in multiple cultures, difficult situations and in times of crisis, to create opportunities, and win-win scenarios for all. This led Salma to form the e Worldwide Group in 2001. The Group is a dynamic consortium of 37 successful companies, universities and organizations focused on providing multiple services and solutions in 4 key areas; Sustainable Development and Empowerment, Alternative Energy, Recycling and Environment, Security and Resilience, and Management Consultancy.

As the Chairperson of the e-World Wide Group, Salma is also using her vast international experience and contacts to leverage best practices, strategies and partnerships to promote her businesses but also focuses on social economic development. Salma believes that through the creation of business opportunities and Information communication technology development will bridge the digital divide and gender divide in a sustainable practical manner will improve the “quality of life” for marginalized people all over the world. She is also linking ICT companies in developing economies with International corporations and organizations to promote knowledge transfer, skills and product exports to create sustainable growth for the local SME’s thus benefiting local economies which is resulting in sustainable socio-economic development.

She is a member of the High Level Adviser’s Panel of the United Nationals Global Alliance for Information Communication Technologies and Development (UN GAID). GAID is focused on providing an inclusive, multi-stakeholder global forum and platform for policy dialogue and partnership-building to promote the use of ICTs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to enable multi-stakeholder partnerships for development. In 2009, Salma Abbasi joined the WHO, International Organizing Committee for the First Global Forum on Medical Devices to build a better understanding of the role that technology can play in improving the lives of people with special needs. In March, 2010 she developed an innovative concept using ICT’s delivering knowledge and awareness through the ‘m’ and ‘e’ factor to ‘prevent avoidable deaths’ of women and infants. This concept had been endorsed by the WHO and they are now jointly piloting this concept in countries with extreme cases of death.

She was invited to be a Senior Associate Fellowship in the International Policy department and later in the Conflict, Security and Development department at King’s College University London in 2002. She is also an associate member of Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (RUSI), which is dedicated to addressing security & resilience issues. In 2007, she became a member of International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) High Level Experts Group (HLEG) for cyber security, which is working on defining national level security strategies and policies for cyber crime and security. Salma is also working in collaboration with ITU on a global initiative that protects children from the negative elements in cyber space which she designed in 2008.

She has also developed a unique concept for the holistic transformation of Madaris to promote interfaith harmony, understanding and social-economic development for youth from multiple societies and cultural back grounds. Following this, she joined hands with UNESCO, to support and drive the ‘power of peace’ initiative (PPN) and has now championed the creation of young ‘global ambassadors of peace’, engaging university students and school children around the world to embrace the ‘concept of understanding, tolerance and respect’.

She has been actively working to drive interfaith understanding, dialogue, and awareness using ICT’s to bridge the socio-religious gap and promote human security in multi-cultural societies since the early 80’s. Salma is also working with Governments around the world to promote ‘effective’ community cohesion and preventing extremist violence and radicalization.. In addition, Salma works with very closely with the UN and Governments, to develop strategies to implement effective ‘ICT’ policies and initiatives focusing in multiple areas of safety and security along with supporting the elements of the MDG’s. This has resulted in social economic development and security.

Most recently, in March 2010, Salma Abbasi was awarded the Ibn Khaldun Award for Excellence for promoting understanding between global cultures sponsored by the UK Ministry of Communities and Local Government at the British Muslim News Awards ceremony. Furthermore, she has joined hands with Mosaic, founded by H.R.H the Prince of Wales focused on creating a positive enabling environment to drive leadership and inspiration to create a harmonious integrated society in Great Britain. She is supporting organizations to drive holistic capability building and training of local ‘women’ councillors from minority ethnic groups to enable their effective engagement at various local and national platforms to create a sustainable space for their ‘voices’ to be heard.

Salma established a non-profit organization in California called “Rahima” with Habiba Hussain, concentrating on assisting the integrating refugees into the Bay Area community. Now, she actively works with SAMF, to implement multiple projects focusing on sustainable socio-economic development and Income generation programs for marginalized youth and women, disaster relief, and prevention radicalization and extremism all over UK, Africa and South Asia. The result of this work has positively impacted community cohesion and understanding. She recently launched special initiatives for women’s empowerment through capacity building and financial independence using ICTs. She is also actively involved in community work, focusing on people with special needs, terminally ill, homeless, battered women and children.

Born in UK, she is a graduate from Westminster University London, BSc Civil Engineering, and later moved to California where she completed her MSc in Electrical Engineering. Pursuing her career as a technologist with great interest in social development she is now doing her doctorate at University of London, Royal Holloway College on ‘Understanding Challenges and Barriers for Women’s engagement with ICTs and their impact on social economic development in Muslim societies‘.

Salma has been described as a “visionary leader who executes”. It is her personal goal to make a difference in everything she does, to improve the quality of peoples’ lives all over the world. She continues to spread her positive ideas, energy, experience and understanding, by speaking at conferences all over the world on multiple platforms from sustainable development, gender empowerment, to security and policy review to reach as many people as possible and create a safe space for debate and knowledge creation to support peace, understanding and harmony in the world.