This week, I attended the European Women in Tech conference in Amsterdam, an annual event. This is the second year I attend it, 2023 was my first experience with a Women in Tech Conference.
By the way, they also host it in London (November) and hold three additional conferences in the US.
For more details visit their page: https://www.europeanwomenintech.com/
Overall, the conference had a supportive and positive atmosphere, and I highly recommend that every woman attends one Women in Tech conference at least once in her lifetime.
These days, Women in Tech events are held in most parts of the world, making them easily accessible. To be honest, compared to other tech events, the prices are also quite affordable. If you can’t afford it out of your pocket, just ask your employer to sponsor you as part of your career development and education. Most of the employers would agree on supporting this activity.
Alright, let's go over my experience this year! As you all know, I do attend a lot of tech conferences and I really became picky and critical when it comes to give my feedback. From my perspective, most of the sessions were a bit high-level, leaving me without many specific takeaways. There are a few highlights from the event that I will share and discuss in this article though.
Of course, the most interesting and insightful discussions always happen off-stage, highlighting the true value of these conferences: networking opportunities and connecting with like-minded women. Hearing stories from women who have achieved success is inspiring and empowering, creating motivation and a strong sense of community.
If I have to make a list with key themes discussed this year, I would say they were no different than last year and they included DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), career development, leadership, innovation and AI ( a LOT of AI discussions), data management, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and ethical/sustainable approaches to technology.
On the first day, I attended a keynote session titled "Inclusion for Impact: How to Make Digital Human Again" by Femke Anna Van Zanten- Global Tech Executive at Meta, Christel Karsten- Director of Commercial Strategy, FinTech unit at booking.com and Grace O’Brien- Creative Director at AKQA which emphasized the importance of inclusiveness and diverse teams in our tech world. It highlighted that diversity naturally arises when striving for excellence and emphasized that inclusion is not optional but essential for achieving success.
The conversation was good, but nothing particularly groundbreaking until Grace mentioned the Pink Chip project. Pink Chip is an index that measures the performance of companies led by women against global benchmarks. This non-profit initiative aims to combat bias against women in business by highlighting the success of female leaders worldwide.
In finance and trading, stocks are often categorized as "chips," with color labels. For instance, blue chips denote large, well-established, and highly valued companies, while green chips are associated with firms in green energy and sustainability sectors.
Pink Chip introduces a new financial category where "pink" symbolizes the strength and impact of women in leadership roles. What an awesome project!! I am looking forward to seeing the development of this initiative! While investment isn't possible now, who knows what the future holds?
As with many tech conferences today, numerous discussions centered around AI and its implications for our lives and careers, particularly over the next decade. There was a focus on understanding how these advancements would specifically affect women, who remain a minority in the tech industry. One session that particularly caught my attention was "Reskilling and Upskilling in the Age of AI" by Anna Brailsford, CEO and Co-Founder of Code First Girls. Anna, a highly talented public speaker, discussed developing reskilling initiatives that promote fair and equitable opportunities for all employees and how Code First Girls contributes in that sense.
Anna’s session was highly interactive and presented a wealth of data designed to provoke thought on the future role of women in tech and AI. It also explored how we can better include more women in this fast-paced, rapidly changing landscape where AI is poised to play a vital role in shaping our societies, lives, and careers. Some shared data indicated that in 15 to 20 years, new automation technologies are expected to eliminate 14% of jobs worldwide and dramatically transform an additional 32%. Fantastic session! For those unfamiliar with Code First Girls, you should definitely check out their website: https://codefirstgirls.com/ . They have many incredible initiatives to support and empower women worldwide!
A third session that I really found interesting was ‘’ What do the Mind and Computers Have in Common?’’ by Anne Hameleers – Owner of Future Mind Movement.
Even though the organizers messed up a bit and misplaced Anna’s presentation, she still managed to lead an engaging discussion on the fascinating parallels between the workings of our minds and computer operations. She provided insightful examples to help us understand how our minds are programmed and offered practical strategies for updating our mindsets.
Really looking forward to learn more , here is her website in case you are curious on finding out more on her project: https://futuremindmovement.plugandpay.nl/future-mind-movement-copy as well.
A forth and last one that I will discuss in here is a super interesting session ‘’Intertwined Realities: A Future Where Human Identity and Digital Technology are Inexorably Linked’’ by Dr Kathrin Kind-Trueller - Chief Data Scientist at Cognizant.
The discussion focused on navigating a world where our physical existence seamlessly merges with digital advancements, exploring ethical implications such as privacy, autonomy, and the digital divide. This integration of digital interfaces into human cognition raises critical considerations for our future. While we can't stop innovation and its rapid pace, how can we safeguard our privacy in the future? Privacy may become our most valuable asset in the future—what are your thoughts on this? There are indeed many crucial questions to consider!
Those were the four sessions that resonated with me the most; I truly found value in them. The other sessions I attended were alright, but they were either too high-level or didn't offer anything new.
Of course, this is just my opinion! I'm sure other women found value in different sessions, and that's perfectly fine since we all have different perspectives.
Another fantastic opportunity for me was visiting the Palo Alto Networks booth. As many of you know, Veeam and Palo Alto Networks are partner companies. I had the chance to discuss their amazing community, Fuel, with the staff there. Naturally, I got some ideas on how our communities could collaborate, so stay tuned for that!
If you don’t know their community, you should visit their website in here: Fuel User Group | Home
Of course, there were many small talks and interesting discussions as well, but for the purpose of this blog, I will conclude here. If you were part of the event, I would love to connect and hear your thoughts too!
Best,
Madi