Women in Tech Summit – the boldest event for women in STEM
The Women in Tech Summit held on 14th and 15th June 2023 is the boldest conference supporting women in STEM. The summit featured insightful tech speeches on topics like emerging technologies, digital transformation, and software development trends. It also emphasized the importance of fostering mentorship, networking opportunities, and professional development for women in technology.
Once a year, for 5 years in a row already, women and men from Poland and from abroad gathered to participate in Women in Tech Summit organised by Perspektywy. This initiative brings together students and professionals, employers and participants, advocates from the technology industry, women who want to make bold choices. People come there from range of reasons - to be up to date with newest technologies, to look for new job opportunities or to expand the network. Every year the event is attended by more and more people, with the new record set in 2023 - 11000 participants!
To feel the scale of it, below there is Women in Tech event in Numbers.
Source: https://womenintechsummit.pl/, date: 04/07/2023
Over the course of two days, the summit featured an array of insightful keynote speeches, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. Renowned industry experts and influential women (and men!) in tech shared their experiences, knowledge, and success stories, inspiring attendees to overcome challenges and pursue their career goals in the tech sector. The tech speeches covered a wide range of topics including emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity, as well as discussions on digital transformation, data analytics, and software development trends.
One of the key highlights of the summit was the inauguration of IT4She mentoring program, which aimed to provide guidance and support to aspiring women in STEM. The program connected experienced mentors with mentees, creating opportunities for personalized mentorship, skill-building, and career guidance. Over the next six months, mentees have the chance to learn from successful professionals, gain insights into the industry, and receive advice on navigating challenges and advancing their careers in the tech field.
The summit emphasized the importance of creating a supportive environment for women in technology, highlighting strategies to foster mentorship, networking opportunities, and professional development. Attendees had the chance to engage in lively discussions, exchange ideas, and establish valuable connections with like-minded individuals. The atmosphere of the event was very positive and energetic.
In addition to the main sessions, the summit featured a career fair where leading tech companies showcased job opportunities and interacted with talented women seeking employment or career advancement. Attendees had the chance to connect with recruiters, gain industry insights, and explore potential career paths.
Overall, the Women in Tech Summit on 14th and 15th June 2023 proved to be an empowering and enlightening event, fostering a sense of community and solidarity among women in the tech industry. The keynote and tech speeches, panels, speed mentoring sessions provided valuable insights, inspiration, and support to attendees, with a shared goal of driving positive change and promoting diversity in the tech sector.
NatWest, as one of the partners of the event, was present on the summit. The company had its own stand where people could network with NatWest employees, review open job positions, or play a bit with Cora, internal AI tool based on ChatGPT engine. The organisation had also a slot on career fairs as well as was present on speed mentoring session and IT4She mentoring inauguration. Last, but surely not least, NatWest’s Director – Dorota Swieboda, was nominated to the Top100 Women in Cloud Computing list that is organised also by Perspektywy Women in tech foundation! The project that she was leading supported implementation of General Ledger in the Cloud. What a great achievement!
NatWest employees were also actively driving the agenda, by delivering keynote and tech speeches. Topics that were covered this year were:
- The Art of Storytelling with Data, delivered by Laura Rodgers, Head of Performance Insights, Finance
“As the world becomes increasingly data-driven, the ability to communicate complex ideas through storytelling has become a critical skill for professionals in all fields. Whether you’re a data scientist, a business or data analyst the ability to tell a compelling story with data can make the difference between success and failure.”
- Unleashing inclusive tech: Debunking accessibility myths, delivered by Becks Brindley, Digital Innovation Product Manager
“With an estimated 1+ billion people world-wide with a disability, it’s never been a better time for tech to innovate and make accessibility part of everything we do.”
- Career in Change: Time for bold leadership, delivered by Tracy Watkinson and Marta Lapinska-Jarzynka
“Bold leadership. What it means to be a bold leader in current times? Is it about specific behaviours, your communication style or maybe the way you organise people and work (…) or much more than these”
And what are the most memorable moments from Women in Tech Summit 2023? Below some experiences from NatWest’s employees!
„I would like to describe my personal experience from this year’s summit by focusing firstly on IT4she mentoring area that I had a pleasure to spend time in.
During my mentoring slot in this area, I was talking to 3 women, who came to talk to me about their areas of interest, struggles and plans for the future. I am truly a fun of mentoring as it enables us to see some topics from different perspective. It widens a horizon not only for mentees but also for mentors! I enjoyed talking to these women very much and cannot wait to progress with my Mentee during IT4she mentoring program that I am a part of.
Next topic I would like to call out is also ability to take part in Tech speeches. This year’s summit focus was (of course!) GenAI. Specialists from different companies were explaining what it means to them, how they start to apply it. It was valuable experience as this is a new ground and I try to be open-minded and think out of the box.
Lastly, I cannot underestimate the time spent on NatWest stand as I could network with people from the organisation and everyone who wanted to have a chat on how it is to Work for NatWest or was looking to potentially become a part of the team! I am counting down to the next year’s summit”
Anna Warzynska, D&A Manager
“I had the recent privilege of attending the WIT summit in Warsaw. A highly organised and engaging event which provided an excellent opportunity and networking facility for both established and aspiring Data & Technologists. I must commend NatWest’s contribution to the event in giving back to the Data & Tech community whether it be for example, engaging the attendees in career opportunities, keynote speaking or mentoring opportunities. A truly memorable day!”
Campbell McCulloch, Head of Insights Solutions
“Women in Tech was a truly memorable event for me.
It was the first time I had a chance to attend a one-to-one mentoring session.
It was really great to get to know the story of a successful woman, hear about both her career journey and values in private life.
We also discussed topics connected with work-life balance, dealing with stress and taking up challenges.
That session gave me a lot of confidence and empowered me to pursue my career goals.
This opportunity to meet inspiring people was a true highlight of the event.
It was great to feel part of big IT community with similar interests and ambitions.
Possibility to share thoughts and network with so many like-minded individuals was really unique.
I look forward to participating in Women in Tech next year!”
Anna Grochowska, D&A Analyst
„I could really feel the energy buzzing at EXPO halls. I honestly wish there were conferences like Women in Tech during my time at university – the empowerment it gives women to really take that deep dive and develop in more technical roles is unprecedented.
But this event is much more than just focusing on empowering women. These 2 days were filled with insightful sessions on 4 stages given by experts in their fields, regarding very wide range of topics, like Cloud Technologies, Cybersecurity, climate impact or AI and data – although the session that I left very impressed was the one about how technology is being used in agriculture (probably it’s just me being a bit ignorant, but I did not realise how this sector uses advanced tools in order to reduce water consumption or enhance crop resilience!)
WiTS 2023 was my second summit, though first one in off-line form – and the impression I’ve had at EXPO hall was enormously better, there’s just some things (this energy and excitement about all-things Tech) that need to be experienced live and it’s definitely something to be repeated!”
Paulina Romanczuk, Finance BI Analyst
“Being part of the summit was such a fantastic experience, to meet and be amongst amazing women in technology. I loved the opportunity to bring my work on digital accessibility to the summit and talk about the impact we can all have if we consider disability when creating digital experiences. I was humbled by the response and the future certainly looks bright from the women I met at the summit who will be part of creating an accessible world. I learn so much personally, that will stay with me, from those who supported me in being talk ready and those who I met who shared their journey into tech, plus got to dance with a robot!“
Becks Brindley, Digital Accessibility Lead
