Some of the world’s largest technology companies have pledged to boost the number of women on their management boards to 30pc by 2022.

At a “Tech for good” summit in Paris on Wednesday, a total of 45 technology companies, including Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, IBM, Booking.com and Uber signed a pledge to meet the target in a bid to open up their boards to more women.

The French presidency said businesses that accomplish the goal should then pursue complete parity, including on executive committees.

President Emanuel Macron was due to dine with 180 technology company executives on Wednesday night in Paris.

According to a recent study of the technology sector by consulting firm McKinsey, women represent just 15pc of management posts at present.

Recent figures have shown that businesses in the technology sector are behind the average FTSE 100 and wider economy in terms of gender diversity in executive teams.

Recruitment agency Inclusive Boards found that only 12.6pc of board members in the tech sector were women, compared to 30pc across FTSE 100 company boards as a whole.

Last month, the Mayor of London backed efforts to improve diversity in the technology sector, after a string of recent reports suggested there is still much more work to be done to address discrimination.