Booking.com expands Technology Playmaker Awards

Booking.com expands Technology Playmaker Awards

Details released alongside new global research highlighting barriers for women to enter tech sector Continue reading

Booking.com is expanding the scope of awards aimed at recognising women pushing the boundaries of innovation in technology.

The 2019 Technology Playmaker Awards have been opened to nominations from any country.

The 2018 attracted entries from female tech entrepreneurs and innovators across Europe.

The details were released alongside new global research from Booking.com highlighting the main barriers for women to enter in the tech sector.

More than half of women working in tech or students interested in the field say a lack of visible role models or mentors across the global tech sector is a major barrier to entry.

Another 50% say they are held back because the opportunities for women to advance in technology are not made clear.

The aim of the awards, introduced in 2017, is to spotlight the diversity of talent in the global technology sector and encourage more girls and women worldwide to enter and succeed in the field.

The deadline for nominations is December 22 with winners to be selected across seven categories.

These reflect a different aspect of achievement in technology: role model, young technologist, business leader, digital leader, employer, community impact and tech Innovator.

The awards are open to women at all levels in any technology or IT-related field who are disrupting or transforming business, industry or communities using technology.

An overall winner will be chosen from among the individual category winners.

Each category winner will receive €5,000 to help advance business and professional goals, with the overall winner collecting €10,000.

The winners will be announced at an event in London on March 13, 2019.

Booking.com chief executive Gillian Tans said: “Encouraging more women to join and flourish in the tech sector is essential if innovation is to reflect and nurture the diverse communities that surround us.

“Creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce takes collaborative effort from companies, both inside and outside their own walls, as well as individuals whose example carries immense power to positively shape the collective destiny of this sector.

“We need to create an environment in which more girls and women are encouraged to enter the field, and given more opportunities to advance, thrive and succeed.

“While there is more work to be done, great strides are being made thanks to the kind of businesses, communities and individuals we seek to unearth and recognise.”