UPDATE [2018 Awards Finalists Announced – here]
The world’s largest technology diversity event has revealed the finalists for its 2017 edition.
The Women in IT Awards is the landmark event in the technology industry’s efforts to tackle its disheartening gender imbalance – just 16% of roles are filled by women – and highlight the benefits of diversity and inclusion.
The 2017 ceremony, taking place on 25 January, will be the largest technology-related diversity event ever staged, attended by 1,000 business and IT leaders at London’s prestigious Great Room venue in Grosvenor House, Park Lane.
The initiative is organised by business-technology magazine Information Age, which received more than 350 nominations for this year’s awards, in partnership with headline sponsor Amazon Web Services.
>See also: Women in IT Awards 2017: winners announced
“Gender diversity in business helps drive innovation, gives business a better understanding of customers, and means you can always hire and develop the best talent,” said Gavin Jackson, UK and Ireland managing director at Amazon Web Services.
“We all have a real responsibility to ensure that the next generation of women are able to do so on ability and merit, and we’re delighted to support the Women in IT Awards’ efforts to shine a spotlight on some of the country’s most inspirational technology leaders.”
Closing the gap
The Women in IT Awards is the flagship event in an ongoing Information Age campaign to help rectify the lack of women in IT.
According to a study from employer body The Tech Partnership, which supports the initiative along with BCS, techUK, the 30% Club and TeenTech, just 16% of the IT industry is made up of women and the gap is worsening.
Through a series of 16 awards, the event highlights the value that women already bring to prominent technology roles and identifies new role models for girls, who make up just 18% of students on UK computing degrees.
>See also: Women in IT Awards set for record attendance after venue move
Joining Amazon Web Services as partners of the Women in IT Awards 2017 are premium sponsor Salesforce and diversity partner BMC Software, as well as Accenture Security, Ada College, Direct Line Group, EOL IT Services, Equal Experts, Ericsson, Frank Recruitment Group, Informed Solutions, KPMG, Schroders, Yoox Net-A-Porter Group and Zayo.
The keynote speaker this year is a high-profile, senior Whitehall figure whose name cannot currently be revealed, and the event will be presented by TeenTech CEO and TV presenter Maggie Philbin, who was appointed OBE in the New Year Honours list for her work in sparking young peoples’ interest in STEM and the creative industries.
“I’m delighted to host the Women in IT Awards again and it’s been a joy to see this diversity initiative grow over the last few years,” said Philbin. “It’s vital that we inspire women to engage with technology at a young age, help them see the increasing number of opportunities and change the misconceptions that deter them from pursuing it as a career.”
Tomorrow’s world
Indeed, while today’s leaders prepare for the evening showcase of the Awards, the daytime will again see hundreds of the UK’s brightest female students gather at technology’s largest careers fair for women, Tomorrow’s Tech Leaders Today, a sister event of the Women in IT Awards.
Also organised by Information Age, in partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland, this is an unprecedented and exclusive opportunity for women to connect with the country’s top IT employers, including BT, John Lewis, Ocado Technology, Rolls-Royce and Tesco.
The careers fair will also take place a week later, on 1 February in Leeds, with employers including Bloomberg, Booking.com, Skyscanner, Accenture and Informed Solutions.
>See also: Women in IT Awards set for record attendance after venue move
“Achieving diversity in technology has remained a priority campaign for Information Age and we’ve been overwhelmed by how the enormous demand for the Women in IT Awards has seen it double in size in the last 12 months,” said Ben Rossi, editorial director at Information Age publisher Vitesse Media and founder of the Women in IT Awards.
“The fact we’re able to bring together 1,000 prominent industry stakeholders to celebrate female tech leadership and identify new role models for young women is testament to how invested people and companies are in this cause, and it’s a privilege to host the platform that makes it all happen.
“Meanwhile, it’s been great to see Tomorrow’s Tech Leaders Today, our independent careers fair connecting female university students and early graduates with IT employers, continue to grow and expand.”
Click here to view the winners of the Women in IT Awards 2017, and here to book your place at the Women in IT Awards 2018.
2017 finalists
ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR
Bernadette Andrietti, Intel
Ciena
Elizabeth Eastaugh, Expedia
Kayleigh Bateman, WeAreTheCity
Karolina Oseckyte, KPMG
Lisa Neale, Openreach
Rebecca Taylor, ResponseTap
Shantok Karavadra, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Vicki Cadman, BT
BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Elsa Chen, Entanet
Hayley Roberts, Distology
Kirstin Duffield, Morning Data
Lynn Collier, Hitachi Data Systems
Maggie Zaboura, Zaboura Communications
Marieke Flament, Circle
Ravleen Beeston, Microsoft
Sarah Haran, iomart Group
Sophie Harrison, Panaseer
BUSINESS ROLE MODEL OF THE YEAR
Amy Bellshaw, Verizon
Carole Drape, BP
Charlie Timblin, Royal Bank of Canada
Claire Stead, Smoothwall
Emma Helt, Showpad
Kathy Schneider, Level 3 Communications
Liz Walker, BT Global Services
Tracy Pound, Maximity
Wendy Tan-White, Entrepreneur First
CIO OF THE YEAR
Alison FitzGerald, London City Airport
Caroline Manzor, CBRE
Cindy Fedell, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kelly Olsen, NHS Property Services
Maggie van’t Hoff, Shell
Nadira Hussain, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Samantha Fisher, Lloyds Banking Group
Tracy Willis, University of the West of England
DIGITAL LEADER OF THE YEAR
Arabel Bailey, Accenture
Beverley Bryant, NHS Digital
Claire Calmejane, Lloyds Banking Group
Gabriella Poczo, WorldRemit
Helen Milner, Tinder Foundation
Jyoti Sharma, EY
Sarah Wilkinson, Home Office
Sharon Cooper, BMJ
E-SKILLS INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Accenture
Amali de Alwis, Code First: Girls
Anna Somaiya, KPMG
Celine Boudier, Ocado
Debbie Forster, Apps for Good
Hema Marshall, Cisco
Sarah Atkinson, CA Technologies
Shell
Stephanie Daman, The Cyber Security Challenge UK
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Charlie Costello, Ordnance Survey
Cristina Sabau, Chiral Systems
Diana Asnani, Atos
Helen Mitchell, Blukudu
Hsu Hlaing, Sumerian
Jane Frankland, KnewStart
Leila Powell, Panaseer
Lynne Warham, Teachers Progress
Vladlena Benson, Kingston University
EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
Accenture
CA Technologies
Intel
Mindtree
News UK
Ocado
Podsystem Group
Rolls-Royce
Thoughtworks
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Alice Bentinck, Entrepreneur First
Alysia Silberg, Acceleforce
Anne Stokes, Streamwire
Brynne Herbert, Move Guides
Kim Nilsson, Pivigo
Nancy Cruickshank, MyShowcase
Nicola Byrne, Cloud90
FUTURE CIO OF THE YEAR
Avril Chester, Scope
Charlotte Hutchinson, IBM
Claire O’Connell, Boots Opticians
Claire Priestley, City, University of London
Ioanna Hadjivasili, Bluewolf
Marta Muszynska, AECOM
Patricia Kateiwaho, Tullow Oil
Rhiannon Jones, Deloitte
GLOBAL LEADER OF THE YEAR
Bethany Mayer, Ixia
Julie Cullivan, FireEye
Lynda Saint-Nwafor, MTN Nigeria
Magda Chelly, Responsible Cyber Pte
Monica Eaton-Cardone, Chargebacks911
Patty Hatter, Intel Security
Vanessa Pegueros, DocuSign
Yasaman Hadjibashi, Barclays Africa Group
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
Caroline Harding-Gelbard, Paperless Post
Estelle Lloyd, Azoomee
Jan Smith, EOL IT Services
Joanna Wake, RAW Digital Training
Nicole Eagan, Darktrace
Sarah Mintey, Developing Experts
Stina Ehrensvard, Yubico
Tania Kinal, Podsystem Group
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
Eleanor Harding, Twitter
Elizabeth Stutchbury, Informed Solutions
Hannah Baugh, Fujitsu
Harriet Lester, Internet Watch Foundation
Helena Horsburgh, Dropbox
Ioana Finaru, Oakbrook Finance
Irina Tsyganok, Yoox Net-A-Porter Group
Jess Dyer, Ordnance Survey
Kalpana Chari, Schroders
Nicole Covey, IBM
SECURITY CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
Charlie Timblin, Royal Bank of Canada
Julie George, Arriva
Lisa Hamilton, Deloitte
Mary Jo de Leeuw, Women in Cyber Security Foundation
Michele Hanson, Transport for London
Natasha Whybrow, Check Point
Ruth Davis, BT Global Services
Sarah Boyd, University of the West of England
Sharon Barber, Lloyds Banking Group
TRANSFORMATION OF THE YEAR
Alison Wilson, Ciena
Helen Gowler, Avon
Helen Kirby, NFU Mutual
Judith Burditt, First Utility
Karen Elenor, Sky Betting & Gaming
Kelly Olsen, NHS Property Services
Louise Cheetham, APS Group
Michelle Jordan, Centrica
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Alison Ross, Auto Trader
Alison Vincent, Cisco
Anne Marie Neatham, Ocado
Carmina Lees, IBM
Charlotte Finn, Salesforce.org
Elizabeth Vega, Informed Solutions
Lisa Heneghan, KPMG
Maxine Mackintosh, HealthTech Women UK
Judging process
The judges have been sent a pack detailing information on all of the finalists and will meet on 11 January 2017 to discuss the nominations and vote on the winners, chaired by Information Age. The judges assess each nomination according to the category’s criteria, which you can read on the website. When a judge is deemed to have a vested interest in a particular category, they are asked to leave the room for that round of discussions, ensuring the process remains entirely independent and objective.
Judges
- Alastair Kane, Zayo
- Amy Wettenhall, Ericsson
- Claire Lamb, Yoox Net-A-Porter Group
- Christina Scott, News UK
- Christine Ashton, Thomson Reuters
- Damilola Erinle, Salesforce
- Elizabeth Vega, Informed Solutions
- Gavin Jackson, Amazon Web Services
- John Gibbs, Rolls-Royce
- Lyn Grobler, Hyperion Insurance Group
- Olivia Neal, Government Digital Service
- Paul Cant, BMC Software
- Triona O’Keeffe, Direct Line Group
- Ursula Morgenstern, Atos
