GITEX Global: Women in tech

Although the technology sector faces difficulty in terms of gender diversity, it also offers an opportunity. According to studies, businesses with 30 per cent female executives had a 15 per cent boost in profitability compared to similar organisations with no female leaders. Moreover, as the sector expands, the expectation is that opportunities would grow for women, who typically do not have as extensive a network as males in a male-dominated field.

At GITEX Global this year, women in the diverse fields of technology will take centre stage. GITEX will host the global finals of the TiE Women pitch competition, where women-led startups from over 40 TiE chapters worldwide including New York, Germany, Sydney, Africa, Bangalore, Boston and the MENA region will pitch on stage for equity-free cash prizes, mentorship, investor networking and exposure. The finale will take place at GITEX Future Stars on October 19, 2021.

In addition, the MENA chapter of She Loves Data, with over 14,000 women trained internationally, will debut in October, empowering women via tech and data to become digitally literate, providing mentorship, soft skills development, and networking opportunities.

Some of the key women taking centre stage are

Mary Jo de Leeuw
Advisory board member Womentech Network and Coding Girls, co-founder and vice president of Women in Cybersecurity and founder, Internet of Toys

As director of cyber security advocacy for (ISC)2 in Emea, Mary-Jo de Leeuw encourages corporations, governments, academic institutions and others to collaborate on cyber solid security policies, legislation and education. This aims to drive recruitment and professional development for the next generation of cyber security leaders and help promote a safe and secure cyber world. She holds a bachelor of IT degree from the University of Applied Science, Utrecht. De Leeuw was the founder and president of the platform Internet of Toys, an international community that consults on the security implications for connected toys to make them more secure. She was also co-founder and vice-president of the Women in Cyber Security Foundation, a discipline-specific community for women in cyber security.

Yong Hua Lin
CEO, chairperson of Women in Engineering, V-Origin Tech, IEEE

Yong Hua Lin is the founder and CEO of V-Origin Technology, founded in 2019. Before V-Origin, Yong was the Director of IBM Research, China, working with the company for 16 years. She was appointed as IBM distinguished engineer to lead global AI system innovation. To drive the diversity in science and technology, she founded IEEE Women in Engineering Beijing affinity group in 2018.

Dr Fatmah Baothman
AI researcher and computer scientist, King Abdulaziz University, President of Women Engineers Committee, Saudi Council of Engineers

Dr Baothman is the founder and the board president of AI Society and a faculty member at KAU. Thirty years in education, relentless technology, AI, blockchain, emergent technology, and technical contribution, she has academic, scientific, managerial, technical, and business expertise. She held several administrative leading positions inside and outside KAU. Among these positions are Apple Center Manager, GM IT Security, Director for KAEC- Educational Sector, Deputy Director of the IT Center at KAU, the Chairwoman of the IEEE Women in Engineering Western Region, the President of Women Engineers Committee at Saudi Council of Engineering. In addition, she translated an AI book into Arabic and coined several technical terms. She is authoring several books and supervised many applied technology projects.

Raja Al Mazrouei
Executive vice president, DIFC Fintech Hive

As executive vice president of FinTech Hive at DIFC, Raja Al Mazrouei oversees the region’s first FinTech accelerator, which brings together financial institutions, government entities, technology partners and entrepreneurs to develop technologies that benefit the financial industry. In addition, Al Mazrouei plays an integral role in building awareness, increasing media outreach, and facilitating partnerships in emerging fintech markets, such as China, India, UK, the US and Africa, aiming to position DIFC as the region’s leading innovation destination for fintech.

Jana Marle Zizkova
Co-founder and CEO, Meiro CDP; Co-founder and managing director, She Loves Data

Avid data and diversity advocate Jana headed teams and country operations at Estee Lauder, Sybase, Sas, Socialbakers in Europe and Asia-Pacific in the past 25 years. Czech native and Swedish citizen Jana has lived in Singapore since 2011, where she co-founded customer data platform startup, Meiro.io and the non-profit movement – She Loves Data. Since then, over 5,000 women have attended over 70 free data workshops in South East Asia, ANZ, South Africa and the USA.