The Asia Women Tech Leaders Awards (AWTLA) has announced the top 50 winners of its inaugural edition on International Women’s Day.
From software engineers and hardware experts to CIOs, CTOs, and cybersecurity specialists, the nominees’ diversity and depth of expertise were genuinely inspiring. A total of 126 nominees from 13 countries in APAC were received.
These 50 winners, hailing from Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong SAR, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Singapore, have also demonstrated exceptional technical expertise, leadership, and a commitment to fostering diversity and innovation in the technology landscape.
The Award also underscores the critical role of women in driving technological advancement and innovation.
By honouring these women, the AWTLA highlights the need for greater diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, encouraging more women to pursue and thrive in technology-related fields.
This timely award reminds us that at this pivotal moment in time when we are at the dawn of AI, according to Unesco, only 20% of employees in technical roles in major ML companies are women. 12% of AI researchers globally are women.
6% of professional software developers are women. Right now when every sector of society is becoming a tech sector and digital technologies are reshaping everyday life, there continues to be outstanding gender gaps in digital technologies.
Unesco figures also show that women and girls are 25% less likely than men to know how to leverage digital technology for basic purposes, 4 times less likely to know how to programme computers and 13 times less likely to file for an ICT patent.
The AWTLA heralds the importance of recognition and empowerment for its 50 winners and symbolises a transformative shift towards inclusivity and innovation in Asia’s tech landscape:
- Validation: The Award is a testament to the winners’ remarkable achievements and impact on the tech industry.
- Visibility: The Award is a crucial platform for these women to gain recognition and visibility within Asia and globally.
- Empowerment: The Award inspires the current and future generations of women to pursue and excel in technology careers.
- Networking: The recognition from the Award opens doors to new opportunities, fostering valuable connections and potential collaborations among the organiser, judges, winners, presenting sponsor and women in the tech industry
The winners were selected based on the following qualities and values:
- Inspiring: These women have created groundbreaking products and solutions to improve the world and support diverse communities. They are committed to workplace diversity and balance and have advocated for women in tech.
- Technical Expertise: They have demonstrated technical expertise and proficiency, with roles spanning from technologists, scientists, and researchers to academics in computer science, engineering, and related disciplines. Senior tech roles such as CIO, CTO, and CISO are also included.
- Technical Business Leaders: These women could be scientists, academics, or technologists who successfully commercialise their inventions.
The AWTLA winners were independently judged by a panel of leading practitioners from the tech industry.
Great care has been taken in selecting a jury comprising the right balance of specialist knowledge, experience, race, gender and geography.
The judging panel is headed by Soh Siew Choo, Chief Information Officer, Asia of Metlife, Hong Kong SAR and Board Member, Metlife Australia. The panel included Sandeep Sarkar, Senior Vice President, ASEAN HCLTech; Jacqueline Chua, Vice President, Home Printing Global R&D, HP Inc; Dr Carrine Teoh Chooi Shi, Chief Strategy Officer, Bond Holdings, Malaysia; Dr Bo Zhou, Head of APAC PICO, Hong Kong SAR among others (refer to https://asiawomentech.com/the-judges/ for full list of judges).
Image Credit: Asia Women Tech Leaders Award (AWTLA)
