They Are Speaking at Women in Tech March 8
Today, Women in Tech reveals a sneak peek of speakers for this year’s event, which kicks off on International Women’s Day on March 8. This year’s theme is “A Brave New World.”
Leader of Sweden’s Center Party Annie Lööf will be part of a panel on how to create real change in industries, from a diversity and gender-balanced perspective, particularly in the wake of #metoo. Country Manager for Google Sweden Anna Wikland and Amelie von Zweigbergk, head of industrial development at the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries, will be on the same panel.
Also joining the roster of speakers at #WITsthlm2018 will be TED speaker Joy Buolamwini, Graduate Researcher at MIT Media Lab. She directs The Algorithmic Justice League, which fights against bias in algorithms and coding. Joy Buolamwini’s research stands at the juncture of social impact, technology and inclusion, and she’s worked with software development in underserved communities in the U.S., Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Niger.
Last week, the fifth annual WITsthlm was announced, now for the first time as a full-day event. Public interest in the event has been overwhelming: In less than a week, more than 3,000 have shown that they’re interested on the WIT sthlm Facebook page. And over 2,000 have signed up as members at womenintech.se. All before even a single speaker was announced.
“The program will be fantastic, and of course we’re incredibly proud that leaders such as Annie Lööf, Anna Wikland and Amelie von Zweigbergk have agreed to take part,” says Paulina Modlitba Söderlund, who has curated the program. “The question of getting women into the tech industry, and to see that those who’ve chosen tech stay in tech, has never been as hot as it is right now, in the wake of #metoo and #teknisktfel.”
“We chose the theme “A Brave New World” to highlight the fact that sustainable innovation calls for brave innovators. All speakers and projects featured on the WIT stage this year are living examples of that. With that in mind, booking a keynote speaker like Joy Buolamwini is a dream come true. We are looking for stories like hers that are personal, powerful and show the importance of including conscious and revolutionary innovators who pave the way for a better future.”
Tomorrow on Feb. 1 at 12 pm the tickets will be released. At that time, all who have registered at womenintech.se have the chance to book a ticket for the event – but it’s still first-come, first-serve. Considering the huge interest from 3,000 already on Facebook, competition for the 1,500 tickets will be tough – last year, all tickets were taken in a record seven minutes!
As in previous years, WITsthlm is free, thanks to support from the sponsors. WITsthlm is open to both women and men. The event will be held at Folkets Hus on Norra Bantorget in central Stockholm, and can be followed live via streaming service Viafree and on WIT’s homepage. Behind this year’s event are 11 main partners in a unique partnership: Accenture, Bonnier, Cybercom, EY, Google, HTC Vive, Kindred, MTG, Nasdaq, Scania and Tieto.
For more information on the program, go to www.womenintech.se. You can follow the event on social media via #WITsthlm2018.
Contact:
Press
Jessica Sjöberg
VP Corporate Communications, MTG
jessica.sjoberg@mtg.com, +46 764 94 09 13
Partners and Sponsorship
Rikard Steiber
President Viveport and SVP Virtual Reality, HTC
rikardsteiber@gmail.com
Women in Tech started as an event on International Women’s Day in 2014. Since then, it has grown into a community, a platform and a movement. The goal for WIT is to inspire women to choose careers within media and technology, through providing networks and experience from successful women and men from the business and entrepreneurial world.
