Finalists Announced for Northern Ireland’s First Women in Tech Awards

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The shortlist for the 2022 Women in Tech Awards, the first ceremony of its kind in Northern Ireland, has been unveiled.

Taking place at Belfast’s Europa Hotel on Friday 8th April and hosted by Sarah Travers, the event will showcase women who innovate, challenge, and embrace technology. The inaugural awards are the brainchild of Lorna McAdoo from Version 1 and will be delivered by Women in Business NI, the leading business network for women in the workplace.

Lorraine Acheson, Managing Director at Women in Business, commented: “We’ve received a great response to our inaugural Women in Tech Awards, which launch at a hugely exciting time for the tech sector in Northern Ireland.

“Over the past five years, we’ve seen first–hand the tremendous women working in all areas of Tech at our annual Women in Tech conference. The exceptional standard of entries and breadth of sectors represented made the judging panel’s job very difficult. Our 41 finalists are all incredible role models to encourage and enable other women to reach their full potential.”

The six–strong judging panel included Women in Business Managing Director Lorraine Acheson, along with Naomh McElhatton (CEO at Stimul.ai), Noel Brady (Owner of Consult Nb1), Caron Alexander OBE (Zexel), Kristel Miller Innovation and Strategy Research, Ulster University) and Jackie Crooks (CCO at Kinsetsu).

After extensive deliberation, the following shortlist was confirmed:

C Level Woman of the Year sponsored by PwC UK

•Claire McIntyre – Qarik Group Ltd•Laura Haldane – SciLeads•Mary Scullion – Fujitsu•Pauline Timoney – Automated Intelligence•Rachelle Reid – Allstate NI

Digital Transformation Leader sponsored by Core Systems

•Emma Neill – Version 1•Julie Shannon – Almac Group Ltd•Marion Rybnikar – Slice•Moira Barratt – Fujitsu•Monica Gillan – Version 1

Entrepreneur of the Year sponsored by Allstate NI

•Laura Haldane – SciLeads•Sinead Higgins – Decision Time•Sinead Welsh – Informed Minds App•Tori Cameron – SNAP – Social Media Marketing

Tech Team of the Year sponsored by Realtime

•Allstate NI – team led by Suzi Murtagh•Almac Clinical Technologies – team led by Abi Pesun•Core Systems (NI) Ltd – team led by Roisin Gilmartin•Datactics – team led by Dr Fiona Browne•KX – team led by Stephanie Lubiak•BT – team led by Melanie McMordie & Janet Burns•Version 1 – team led by Emma Neill

Tech Advocate of the Year sponsored by CIVICA

•Ann Conlon – KX•Claire Nixon – Realtime Recruitment / Women in Tech Belfast•Fernanda Soares – Version 1•Helen Nicholson – Expleo Group NI•Louise Black – PwC•Louise O’Hare – FD Technologies

Returner of the Year sponsored by Deloitte

•Jude McVitty•Sonia Singh•Stephanie Adlam

Male Advocate of the Year sponsored by Diversity Mark

•Dr Bryan Keating CBE – DfE Women in STEM Steering Group•Chris Sloan – Deloitte LLP•John Healy – Allstate NI•Seamus Wilkinson – Version 1•Stuart Harvey – Datactics

One to Watch in the Future sponsored by Slice

•Alexandra Collins – Datactics•Catherine McGinnity – Sensata Technologies•Ellen Marks – ubloquity•Fiona Gildea – ComplyFirst•Tanya Matthews – Version 1•Victoria Logan – Allstate NI

300 guests from all business sectors are expected to come together to recognise and reward inspiring individuals operating in today’s tech sector, following a record year in 2021 with Northern Ireland now home to one of the UK’s fastest–growing digital sectors according to the latest data from Adzuna. The 2022 Awards recognise businesswomen from a diverse range of tech disciplines through 9 categories, and April’s ceremony boasts a number of prestigious sponsors, including Allstate NI, Deloitte, PwC, Civica, Core, Realtime IT Solutions, Slice, and Version 1. For a full list of award categories, entry forms, or to book a ticket for April’s event, visit the Women in Business website.