Meena Sur

What brought you to a career in technology at the United Nations?

While I joined the UN in the area of Programme Management, relying on my expertise in ICTs, I initiated process re-engineering using technology as an enabler in each of my roles to bring efficiencies and economies of scale that aided greening of the UN and the establishment of a data strategy, a conference and event management supply chain and re-use of multilingual data

What has been your favorite technology project or initiative at the United Nations and why? What was your contribution?

My favourite project at the United Nations was the design, development, deployment of PaperSmart services for Rio+20. A pioneer effort in 2012 that built further on the Paperless Committee that I implemented in 2002 that made a paradigm shift in the reduction of desk to desk distribution of paper copies in the conference rooms of parliamentary documents and statements by member states.

What advice would you give women interested in pursuing a field in technology?

Technology is a great enabler, especially to bring about a paradigm shift in various workflows and processes. It is important to understand the business, identify areas for improvement in the workflow and processes and see how technology can help in the delivery of future client services.