We received Silvana’s smile, by email, in a special way. At the heart of European information, Silvana Ferrão is an Environmental and Geographic Information Systems Engineer and works as an Information Technology Project Manager at the European Union in Brussels.
It was at the age of 22 that this Mozambican citizen first experienced different latitudes, when she travelled to the north of England to start a Master’s at the University of Leeds. At the time, it was a scholarship from the Graça Machel Trust, in partnership with South Africa’s Sasol, that allowed her to test her limits. From there, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America and, more recently, in the country of Tintin – Belgium – she found her second permanent home.
Her taste for technology came early. Her mother, a chemistry teacher, ended up awakening her interest in the scientific world, while her father introduced her to technology and encouraged her to seek more knowledge. “One of my primary school teachers always said that this would be the path for me (...). I ended up in exactly the field of technology and digital innovation, and it has been quite interesting,” she shares.
When we read the description of Silvana’s post, we are, to say the least, impressed to understand the impact and the demands of the work of this 30-year-old. Commitment, dedication and responsibility are three of the key ingredients that guide her work, as she explains: “I deal with information technology and innovation linked to several areas crucial to sustainable development. This includes the environment and its resources, transport, education and international partnerships linking the European Union, member states, candidate states and partners from various regions - ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific), Asia, the Americas – among others. In addition, the fact that I was placed at the headquarters of the European Union, despite my foreign nationality, something that is not common, demands a certain responsibility of me.”
Alongside the responsibility come constant challenges, since technology is nowadays at the centre of many operations. Precisely for that reason, Silvana recognises the common interest in favour of a more sustainable, integrated future, so that various nations act in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, to “leave no one behind”.
Although far away, Silvana keeps her radar trained on the national market and has followed the emergence, in recent years, of several initiatives, starting with digital apps made by Mozambicans to improve the lives of Mozambicans. She believes in Mozambique’s potential in the technology field to such an extent that she considers there is a great deal of potential still to be explored and to innovate: “There also needs to be incentive, recognition and more exposure in order to awaken the interest of various other sectors,’ she stresses.
But Silvana Ferrão does not stop there. She is currently part of the Graça Machel Alumni Network (GMAN), an organisation formed to help girls and women enter the academic field, mainly in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, an initiative that has already earned them an award from the Graça Machel Trust Africa. Deep down, Silvana has a personal project: “I would also like to be able to set up a mobile digital workshop in rural areas, so as to give children and young people, regardless of their gender, the opportunity to learn a little more about the digital world, technology and artificial intelligence. The workshop would be mobile, not only to reduce implementation costs but also to be able to reach more young people over a given period of time,” she explains.
At this stage, while the idea for Silvana’s personal project is being developed in the centre of Brussels, will there be anyone interested in partnerships to get it under way? We and Silvana shall wait and see.
