Relevant System’s CEO Nick Bey’s trip to Cameroon would change him. His team was assigned to design a weather station for local farmers to increase crop production. They were successful and developed the first portable weather station in Cameroon.
Bey was inspired by his trip to make Relevant Systems a company that would employ minority and women engineers in order to identify problems and provide solutions.
Rolling out spoke with Bey about the importance of minorities entering the tech space. He shared the top three skills people should have mastery of in order to be successful and what he thinks the next valuable innovations are.
Why is making sure women and minorities are empowered with the ability to leverage technology important?
Digital-tech is an untapped source. More women and minorities need to be involved. Not enough of us are the owners or the programmers behind the tech.
We are currently teaching 200 minorities and women how to code so one day they can build their digital products, and start their own tech companies.
What would say would be the top three skills a person should have mastery of these days and why?
The top three skills a person should have mastery of would be:
Resilience
Problem-solving
Self-management
Resilience is important. It involves being able to deal with failure. If you’re able to look at failure as data, you’ll be able to learn from it and find your way to success.
Problem-solving is essential. We all run into problems. We must choose to stay still or act. It takes being observant and aware to identify the issues you’re facing in order to figure out the best way to find a solution. The mastering of this skill will help you prevail in all areas of your life.
Self-management is the most important. It starts with self-reflection which entails sincerely outlining your positive and negative attributes so you can be able to understand yourself best. This takes courage and vulnerability. Once this happens, you’ll have a better chance of managing yourself to be most productive and organized.
Who inspires you in this tech space? What innovations do you think are next?
A few inspirations in the tech space would have to be: Robert F. Smith, the billionaire that founded Vista Equity Partners; tech whiz and architect Iddris Sandu, and my intern turned developer Chiziaruhoma Ogbonda.
The innovations that I believe are next are free Wi-Fi and cellular service globally, the ability to build mobile enterprise applications with zero coding knowledge, and self-driving cars.
What words would you share with someone who is nervous about entering this tech space?
There’s nothing to be nervous about. Be consistent, persistent, and motivated. Being a part of the tech industry doesn’t mean you must program or know how to code. You can wake up and have a unique idea that solves a significant problem. That idea can be your way into the tech game and could be the next big break in your career.
