Women in Technology: Roberta Aquila, IT Specialist, Digitra.com
With 15 years of experience in the IT industry, Roberta Aquila works at Digitra.com as a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE). We sat down with Roberta to learn more about her role as well as her advice to people who are interested in getting involved in the crypto and technology space.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Digitra.com?
I have been working in the IT industry for over a decade but I had a passion for computers and technology as a child. In high school, I took IT classes so I could start working with software development at an early age. After gaining a technology foundation in high school, I went on to FIAP where I majored in Computer Engineering.
At Digitra.com I'm part of the SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) team, where I am responsible for automating our cloud infrastructure and keeping our systems healthy and reliable by applying modern techniques of monitoring and observability.
How did you become involved in the crypto space?
My first contact with crypto was about five years ago. I was working with my current manager at another company, and he was leaving to start a new opportunity at a crypto startup. I had already heard about it but I didn't go deeper into this subject because, at that time, I was not aware of how big crypto's world was becoming. Right after, I started working at a bank and got interested in investments and started to understand the cryptocurrency universe and its projection.
How has technology influenced your role at Digitra.com?
Technology is not only vital for the fulfillment of the cryptocurrency universe but for Digitra.com as a business. Serving as an international and fully remote company, Digitra.com could not even exist if it did not breathe technology too. The SRE team uses the flexibility of the cloud combined with security, monitoring and high availability. Technology helps us maintain our infrastructure, quickly change our applications in the production environment and even aids our meetings and decision-making processes.
Throughout your career, what challenges have you been presented with that you’ve had to overcome?
Working in IT can be challenging. Finding our space and demonstrating our competence requires much more effort than just being up to date with technology. I have had to reinforce my love for technology to help me overcome some challenges. I seek to be listened to, not just be heard, and I want my opinions to be respected and taken seriously. Oftentimes, I have been taught something that I already know, which people think I don’t already know because I am a woman. I have cultivated a very strong mind to conquer the stereotype that the technology space is not suitable for my gender.
What advice would you give to people who are interested in working in the crypto industry, or desire to have a role in the technology sector?
When working in technology, it is essential to prioritize resiliency. One day you are studying some language or pattern, and another day it's deprecated or appears with a different structure and better performance. For the crypto industry, it's important to understand the economics behind the cryptocurrency universe and how blockchain works. Then, go deeper about the architecture of the main cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and the decentralized monetary system.
Other Topics
Technology Cryptocurrencies Leadership
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