#SheDIDIt hashtag sign by Made In Hollywood

For the last few years #DigiWomen has been keeping an eye on Web Summit, specifically reviewing the number of women included in its Speaker List.

Below we include the complete list of female speakers at time of going to press. We also outline what we will be doing at Web Summit to draw attention to the amazing contributions that women make to technology.

In 2012 37 speakers were female; in 2013 there were 29 female speakers. Thankfully this year they are bucking that downward trend with 96 female speakers. This is 19.2% of the total 500 speakers that Web Summit promises at time of writing. How many years will it take us to get to 50:50 which is close to representing the actual ratio of women to men in the world?

There is no online record of how many speakers in total participated in each year. One of the pieces of work #DigiWomen hopes to undertake is a historical review of speakers at the Summit. We’ll be approaching them when the dust has settled to get the data that will help us do that.

As in previous years we include below the full list of female speakers at Web Summit 2014. We encourage you to peruse the list and plan your summit experience to include as many as possible. Don’t forget to share your thoughts on your favoured social networks with the #SheDIDIt tag. We try to include Twitter handles below to allow you to connect with these women when tweeting about Web Summit. Let’s get this positive message about women in tech trending!

We had a (quick and dirty) closer look at the list this year. We gathered biographical information from the Web Summit site, Twitter, LinkedIn and the speakers’ own company sites. We noticed, while compiling this list, that 26 of the 96 female speakers taking part in Web Summit are defined as journalists, writers, authors and editors. We are very curious to hear what they are going to speak about at Web Summit. We also look forward to breaking down the data about male speakers to query whether 27% of them represent media outlets. Of the women speakers 45 are founder or C-Level and 5 could be classed as involved in the entertainment sector. We promise to return to this data after Web Summit and to take a much more scientific approach to our analysis.

While there are no doubt some big names amongst those female speakers, Eva Longoria is not quite Bono in terms of global recognition or indeed technology kudos (insert your own descriptor here for U2’s most recent foray into the digital world.) Having worked in events, albeit at a different pace, I know it is no mean feat to book the big names but is it too much to ask for Sheryl Sandberg or Arianna Huffington? Can we have Beyoncé as well as her Digital Strategist please?

You might ask why are #DigiWomen picking on Web Summit as opposed to all the other technology conferences that take place in Ireland throughout the year? We feel that Web Summit presents itself as an international conference where the tech world meets, as the place to be no matter where you are or who you are in technology. As technology has permeated all of human life so Web Summit has grown. Yes, we understand that Web Summit might well be representing the true ratios in the technology industry but we think that as a flagship technology event it should be involved in changing that ratio. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in Web Summit as exhibitors and while we don’t wish to be a thorn in their side, we will not be a salve to their conscience.

At Web Summit 2014 we have 3 goals

1. We will continue our new SheDIDIt campaign by collating and sharing stories about women’s achievement in technology.
2. We will survey delegates at the summit to gather information about attitudes to women’s participation in technology conferences.
3. We hope that each of the 96 women speakers at Web Summit will sign our poster as a physical memento of the ratio at Web Summit 2014.

We need your help.

What can you do to help us achieve these three goals?

• This week share a story about a woman in technology that you admire with the #SheDIDIt hashtag.
• Drop by our stand anytime during Web Summit and complete our anonymised questionnaire.
• If you are woman speaking at Web Summit drop by and sign our poster and share your own #SheDIDIt story.
• If you meet any female speakers please encourage them to drop by and sign our poster and share their own #SheDIDit story.

Full credit to Roseanne Smith for collaborating on this blog post and for getting my thoughts into ink.

The Female Speakers

This is presented in no particular order and with varied bios and contact details. Please get in touch if you would like us to change or update any of the information below. You can also follow the Twitter list we created.

• Julia Powles @juliapowles
  Cambridge law/science/tech | General enthusiast | Comics | Adventure | Runs | Future of the Internet |

• Shahrzad Rafati @shahrzadrafati
  Founder and CEO of @BroadbandTV. Winner of @FastCo’s 100 Most Creative People in Business and @TEDx speaker.

• Lynette Kucsma @LynetteKucsma
  Passionate about plant-strong eating, marketing and technology. I’m CMO & co-Founder of a company that makes 3D food printers, using REAL food. @NaturalMachines

• Alexandra Suich @AlexandraSuich
  I write about media for The Economist

• Maëlle Gavet @MaelleGavet
  CEO of OZON, largest online retail group in Russia. Living the Internet dream..

• Pamela Newenham @PamIrishTimes
  Business Journalist at The Irish Times. I’m interested in cake! Mmmmmmmm. And food in general. All views my own etc.

• Noor Siddiqui @NoorFSiddiqui
  CEO, Remedy, Noor Siddiqui sees technology as a force multiplier to improve the human condition. She founded Remedy to build the healthcare system she wants to get treated by. Noor has spoken about her work internationally, as well as in the US at DEMO Enterprise, TEDx, and The Singularity Summit. Her work has been sponsored by Dell and Intel and written about in The Washington Post, Forbes, and BusinessInsider. Noor is also the recipient of the Thiel Fellowship, a program spawned by Paypal founder turned venture capitalist Peter Thiel, that grants 20 entrepreneurs under 20 $100,000 to solve real world problems.

• Caroline Hyde @CarolineHydeTV
  Business Correspondent @BloombergTV. Views are my own.

• Lily Cole @lilycole
  Founder Impossible.com Lily Cole is an English model and actress. Her career as a model was launched after a chance encounter with scout Benjamin Hart in Soho when she was 14. Since then, Cole has graced the cover of several mainstream fashion titles – including US, British, Italian and Japanese Vogue – as well as having walked the catwalk for Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Hermes, Galliano, Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs. She has also starred in a string of movies, including St Trinian’s in 2007, and 2009 film The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, in which she starred alongside the late Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law. In June 2011, Cole was awarded a Double First in History Of Art at Cambridge.

• Emily Glen @Emily_Glen
  Coffee fiend, policy wonk, communications pro, sports enthusiast, amateur runner, OYW delegate speaker All Opinions My Own

• Rachel Schutt @rachelschutt
  Dr. Rachel Schutt is the Senior Vice President of Data Science at News Corp. Rachel earned her PhD in Statistics from Columbia University, and was a statistician at Google Research for several years. She is an adjunct professor in Columbia’s Department of Statistics where she teaches Introduction to Data Science, and a founding member of the Education Committee for the Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering at Columbia. She has a Masters degree in mathematics from NYU, and a Masters degree in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University. Her undergraduate degree is in Honors Mathematics from the University of Michigan. Rachel is the co-author of the forthcoming book “Doing Data Science” to be published by O’Reilly in October, 2013. Her research interests include statistical modeling, exploratory data analysis, machine learning algorithms, social networks, and defining Data Science as an academic discipline, as well as the ethical dimensions of Data Science. She is also interested in figuring out the most effective ways to teach and train the next generation of data scientists.

• Abigail Disney @abigaildisney
  Producer, Pray the Devil Back to Hell & PBS @WomenWarPeace Series, Peace activist and founder of Peace is Loud. My mission is to raise my voice for peace

• Alison G Pincus @AliGPincus
  Madly curious, passionate about design. Wanna-be foodie. Co-founder of @onekingslane.

• Krista Smith @KristaSmith
  West Coast Editor, Vanity Fair (interviews at http://VF.com ); full-time mom; full-time Hollywood; CNN contributor; Go Broncos! Instagram:kristasmithla

• Andreeeeeeeeaaaaaaa! Wade @brandalisms
  Brandalism.ie Director | Strategy/Tech/Pogonophile/Growth | @Dublin_CM & @SWDub 2014 Co-Org + @WITSIreland Board /Founder @AskATonEvents + @StartupHiking

• Anne-Marie Tomchak @AMTomchak
  Reporting the compelling stories from social media on BBC World News and BBC Trending. http://muckrack.com/anne-marie-tomchak …

• Sophie Ann Kelly @SophieAnnKelly
  CEO of The Barbarian Group. Obsessed with human behavior.A lover of art and entertainment

• Aine Kerr @AineKerr
• Managing Editor @Storyful. Lecturer in Online Journalism @DBScollege. Former Political Corr. aine.kerr@storyful.com http://about.me/ainekerr/

• Sharmila Mulligan @ShahaniMulligan
  CEO & Founder of ClearStory Data

• Ruzwana Bashir @ruzwana
  CEO & Founder of http://Peek.com , a one-stop shop for travelers and locals to book amazing things to do. Follow us at @Peek.

• Brindusa Fidanza @brindusaf
  Personal tweets on the green economy, politics and other facts of life. Frmr Assoc Director Environment, WEF. Founder, The Ground_Up Project @theground_up

• Ayah Bdeir @ayahbdeir
  Thoughts aboutt art, tech & incredible intersections within. @TEDFellow, founder @littleBits, @karajBeirut. Alum @eyebeamnyc, @CreativeCommons, MS @medialab.

• Joanne Bradford @pinjoanne
  Head of Partnerships, Pinterest, formerly of San Francisco Chronicle, Demand Media, Yahoo and Microsoft

• Laura Bokobza @lbokob
  Chief Marketing Officer at Aldebaran Robotics – executive VP in charge of strategic marketing, product marketing, brand, comms, digital, and corporate affairs

• Gale Anne Hurd @GunnerGale
  Exec Producer of THE WALKING DEAD; Producer of TERMINATOR, T2, THE ABYSS, INCREDIBLE HULK, PUNISHER, ARMAGEDDON, ALIENS, PGA Board, Gooner

• Deirdre Bolton @DeirdreBolton
  Alternative Asset Expert. From Caisse des Depots NA to SocGen to Bbrg to @RiskRewardFBN @FoxBusiness, it’s the 4th time to charm!

• Adi Tatarko @aditatarko
  Read “10 Questions: Adi Tatarko, co-founder and CEO, Houzz” on Fortune

• Eva Longoria @EvaLongoria
  Actress, Activist, and Philanthropist

• Orla Barry @orla_barry BBC World Service Broadcast Journalist, Broadcaster of The Green Room Culture Show on Newstalk106-108FM, Columnist & Documentary Maker

• Jemima Khan @Jemima_Khan
  “Jemima Marcelle Khan is an English journalist, heiress, and campaigner. She is an associate editor of New Statesman and European editor-at-large for Vanity Fair” – source Wikipedia

• Antonia McCahon @antoniamccahon
  Global Head of Digital Marketing at Pernod Ricard

• Sarah Wood @sarahfwood
  Sarah Wood is cofounder & COO of marketing technology company @unrulyco. Responsible for delivering the most awesome social video campaigns on the planet.

• Michelle Peluso @michelleapeluso
  Michelle Peluso is the Chief Executive Officer of Gilt, an innovative online shopping destination offering its more than eight million members special access to the most inspiring merchandise and experiences every day at insider prices. Prior to assuming the CEO role at Gilt, she served for over three years on the company’s Board of Directors.

• Natalie Mortimer @nataliemortimer
  Fashion, FMCG and charity Journo @TheDrum. Happiest drinking coffee and wine… preferably abroad. Fashion obsessed. PPA New Talent Award Winner.

• Sarah Robb O’Hagan @SarahRobbOh
  Workout Queen by morning, President of Equinox by day, Wife and Mum of Team Robb O’Hagan by night. Educated at NZ, Virgin, Nike, Gatorade. Proud Kiwi American.

• Seema Mody @seemacnbc
  CNBC Reporter.

• Annie Machon @AnnieMachon
  Annie Machon is a former intel­li­gence officer for MI5, the UK Secur­ity Ser­vice, who resigned in the late 1990s to blow the whistle on the spies’ incom­pet­ence and crimes with her ex-partner, David Shayler. Draw­ing on her var­ied exper­i­ences, she is now a pub­lic speaker, writer, media pun­dit, polit­ical cam­paigner, and PR con­sult­ant. She is also now the Dir­ector of LEAP, Europe.

• Adora Svitak @adorasv
  Writer, feminist, advocate for #stuvoice and literacy. Addicted to running + semicolons. Spoke at TED ’10, UN ECOSOC ’13. Proud Washingtonian. UC Berkeley ’18

• Lauren Wirtzer @lwirtzer
  Digital Strategy at Parkwood Entertainment, one of the “people behind Beyoncé”

• Gabriella Coleman @BiellaColeman
  Professor at McGill and author of forthcoming book on Anonymous http://www.versobooks.com/books/1749-hacker-hoaxer-whistleblower-spy

• Ciara Byrne @deciara
  Currently building high-tech products for low-income Americans at @SolveForS. Tech journalist for @fastCoLabs and @forbes

• Meryl Job @meryljob
  US web entrepreneur, fashion lover based in Paris. Co-founder of @Videdressing, the 1st social marketplace dedicated to fashion. Opinions are strictly my own.

• Katherine Hague @KatherineHague
  Co-Founder @shoplocket and @blueprintshop, acquired by @PCH_Intl. Graduate of @HackerYou.

• Alyson Shontell @ajs
  Senior Correspondent @BusinessInsider, Entrepreneur at heart. T-shirt maker, investor/advisor to husband’s sports media co, @CollegeSpun

• Michelle Castillo @MishCastillo
  Digital Media/Web Video reporter for Adweek. Pop culture junkie. All opinions are my own.

• Caroline Daniel @carolinefdaniel
  Editor of the Weekend FT

• Ingrid Lunden @ingridlunden
  Journalist: mobile/media/tech news. Mom: 2 kids. Wife. Traveler. Speaks English, American, Russian, Franglais, Spanglish, in metaphors.

• Hayley Barna @hayleybay
  C0-founder Birchbox.com Hayley has come a long way from her low-maintenance beauty roots. During the early days of Birchbox she served as the newbie screener for Mollie’s product descriptions (where do you put that? why? how?). Now she’s officially qualified to use liquid liner and is steadily amassing an enviable nail polish collection. On any given day at Birchbox HQ, you can find her poring over numbers in Excel spreadsheets, solving logistical snafus, and dreaming up new ways to help our customers get the most out of Birchbox.

• Una Mullally @UnaMullally
  Journalist /// Broadcaster

• Michelle Sadlier @shelbyshelly
  I am a style social media player who’s immersed in the global social media conversation influencing fashion and lifestyle. I believe we must go beyond just listening and engaging with the online community and really use social data insights to reinform our business areas. Be social everywhere, not just on your owned social media platforms. I am also incredibly interested in the start-up space and plan to launch my own business WhereCarLoversGo.com.

• Jane McDaid @JaneMcDaid
  Founder of Thinkhouse – the youth communications agency. Follow @thinkhouseIE and @thinkhouseUK

• Melody Hildebrandt @mhil1
  formerly wargames, now software

• Jennifer Schenker @jennschenker
  Global technology journalist

• Anastasia Ashley @AnastasiaAshley
  Professional surfer and sometimes a professional human contact: Media@AnastasiaAshley.com

• Victoria Turk @VickiTurk
  UK Editor @Motherboard at @ViceUK, writer on tech, science, culture, the future.

• Parmy Olson @parmy
  Forbes’s mobile writer. Recent migrant to San Francisco from London. Big fan of tea. Wrote ‘We Are Anonymous’ – http://amzn.to/HCp4lf

• Katherine Barna @kathbarna
  Head of Communications at Tumblr. Ginger’s mom.

• Hannah Kuchler @hannahkuchler
  Financial Times San Francisco correspondent, covering social media and cyber security. Opinions my own, retweets are not endorsements. hannah.kuchler@ft.com

• Jules Coleman @julescoleman
  Founder of http://Hassle.com . Writer of ruby. Drinker of coffee.

• Laurie Segall @LaurieSegallCNN
  CNNMoney correspondent covering startups, innovation, VC’s and all things new and cool. West Village dweller, coffee lover, southerner, storyteller.

• Inés Sombra @randommood
  Engineer @fastly. Plagued by many interests including running the @papers_we_love SF chapter. In an everlasting quest for increased focus.

• Amanda Kahlow @AmandaKahlow
  CEO & Founder @6SenseInc. Advisor to @GirlRising. Entrepreneur. Passionate about bringing predictive marketing and sales analytics to B2B enterprises.

• Clara Shih @clarashih
  CEO @HearsaySocial. $SBUX Board Director. Author, The Facebook Era. http://thefacebookera.com/media.php

• Shannon Connolly @swedishoxers
  SVP Music Strategy , MTV Networks

• Tanya Cordrey @tcordrey
  Chief Digital Officer at Guardian News & Media: Digital thinker & doer with keen interest in current affairs, politics and all things digital

• Cat Posey @catpoetry
  Sr. Mgr, Social and Comms for @ElectricCloud. @TechSuperwomen #TSWS founder. Views are my own. I love social tech’s ability to empower, inspire and connect.

• Julia Hartz @juliahartz
  Co-Founder and President of http://Eventbrite.com

• Lisa Fleisher @lisafleisher
  A person familiar with the matter. Tech reporter, wall street journal. privacy/data/fintech/bitcoin. Of Tenafly. lisa@wsj.com Subscribe. http://bit.ly/1vFiqHy

• Padmasree Warrior @Padmasree
  Chief Technology and Strategy Officer for Cisco. Investments and M&A. Love art, photography, Haiku and food 🙂 Passionate about helping women in tech

• Peggy anne Salz @peggyanne
  Nine-time Author; Top 30 Mobile Marketing Influencer; Content Marketing Strategist & Chief Analyst of @MobileGroove, a top 50 influential technology site.

• Michelle Lam @MichelleLam
  Entrepreneur. Excited by weird and wonderful things to do. Founder of http://Spoilt.com.hk

• Danae Ringelmann @gogoDanae
  Founder of @Indiegogo – empowering people to fund what matters to them. All entrepreneurs, artists, causes and others welcome.

• Nilofer Merchant @nilofer
  The Future is not created, it’s co-created. Winner @Thinkers50 Future Thinker Award. TED2013 Speaker. @HarvardBiz @timeinc writer. 2xAuthor #SocialEra.

• Leslie Ziegler @lesliejz
  Now: cofounder @bittyfoods, advisor @neurotrack @mavenclinic. Then: @rock_health. Always: food, wine & adventures.

• Jessica Lessin @Jessicalessin
  I am the founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Information. Thanks for following!

• Jessi Hempel @jessiwrites
  I write about the business of technology for WIRED. I want to know what people do on the web. https://medium.com/@jessiwrites/i-am-joining-wired-5fc9dcc8912a …

• Brooke Hammerling @brooke
  “Search Public Relations maven on Google and a photo of Brooke Hammerling just might pop up. She runs the show at Brew Media Relations, an aggressive PR firm with a who’s who of startup luminaries, including GroupMe, Zong, Bluefin Labs, Adaptly, and WordPress. Her secret? “We make introductions [for clients] that lead to investment, that lead to partnerships, that lead to customer acquisition,” she told The New York Observer. “It goes beyond getting a story in a publication.”” Source

• Emily Steel @emilysteel
  I write about the media business at the New York Times. WSJ alumna. FT alumna. Tar Heel. Views are mine.

• Laura Sydell @Sydell
  NPR’s Digital Culture Reporter — looking at the intersection of culture and technology. Reminder: A tweet is not an endorsement.

• Jemima Kiss @jemimakiss
  Head of technology at the Guardian / child wrangler. PGP: 0XF87DA69E

• Seval Oz @sosevaloz
  CEO at Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems, LLC

• Elisa Cimetta LinkedIn
  Associate Research Scientist Columbia University, Founding Team Member www.epibone.com

• Jess Lee https://twitter.com/jesskah
  Co-Founder of Polyvore

• Ann Neidenbach
  Senior Vice President, Head of NASDAQ OMX Market Systems , NASDAQ OMX

• Sarah Carey LinkedIn
  Newspaper columnist and broadcaster with a background in technology marketing, corporate writing, PR consultancy and decision making.

• Iseult Ward www.foodcloud.ie
  “Foodcloud was born from the combination of idealistic optimism and the encouragement and support of Enactus (a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better more sustainable world). Since then Foodcloud has gone from strength to strength. We are now a registered as a non-profit organisation, we have an app and we have food businesses and charities registered to help right the current situation and to restore some of that old Irish community spirit based on shared food. Today we hold a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Minnovation Award, a place in NDRC’s start up accelerator programme, Launchpad and are recent winners of the Arthur Guinness Projects.”

• Christine Gould http://www.tffchallenge.com/
  While serving as the head of next generation engagement at Syngenta in Switzerland, Christine founded TFF out of her belief that the power to solve the most pressing challenges faced by humanity lies with the next generation. She holds an MPA with a concentration in Innovation Policy from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics from American University. She has spent her career working on agriculture and food issues in various leading organizations in the United States and across Europe and in 2013 was named into Ashoka Changemakers League of Intraprenuers. She’s obsessed with all things science and tech, open innovation, contemporary art, modern architecture and dancing to electronic music.

• Nora Khaldi Linkedin
  Nuritas discovers novel functional ingredients in food that have various therapeutic qualities, including the management of chronic metabolic syndromes. Nuritas also works with food companies to rapidly mine their ingredients and add value to them by pinpointing healthy molecules that they contain but were unaware of. Food companies can then rebrand and reprice their current ingredients without investing in the creation of a new ingredient.

• Bella Sanjay
  Liberty is a campaigning organisation with 80 years of expertise. We protect civil liberties and promote human rights for everyone. Join Us Be Heard.

• Siobhan O’Donovan @mrandmrsstevens
  Co-owner Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, a creative agency

• Liya Brook @liyabrook
  Advisor Code for America,

• Abi Weaver
  Director, Global Technology Project, American Red Cross.

• Mary Gordon
  Mary Gordon is recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert who has created programs informed by the power of empathy. In 1996 Mary outlined the initial curriculum of Roots of Empathy and began piloting the program in Toronto. In 2000 she established the national and international organization Roots of Empathy, which now offers programs in every province of Canada, New Zealand, the USA, the Isle of Man, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, and Germany. In 2005, Ms Gordon created the Seeds of Empathy program. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Ashoka Fellow.

• Amanda Noonan
  Amanda Noonan is the Director of Research and Learning for Internews’ Center for Innovation & Learning. Over the past 20 years, Noonan has worked in media and communications research with InterMedia and the BBC World Service. As the Asia Research Director at InterMedia, Noonan championed and highlighted the importance of designing innovative and appropriate research techniques and strategies to capture maximum insight and understanding of individuals and communities activities, motivations and behaviors. As a communication specialist, Noonan is particularly interested in studying the impacts of new technologies on the information flows throughout different communities and groups. This includes groundbreaking research and analysis word of mouth (WOM) networks as a crucial source of information and the role new technologies can play in amplifying this phenomenon. Noonan is based in Washington, DC.

• Ann Patterson
  Anna Patterson is currently Vice President of Engineering, Artificial Intelligence for Google. Her current focus is text understanding. She is also currently a trustee at Harvey Mudd College and a trustee at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and on the National Engineering Council at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a co-founder of Progressive Women of Silicon Valley which helps host candidates and causes in Silicon Valley. At Google, she was the architect of one of their largest search serving systems TeraGoogle and also led efforts in Web Search, Ads and Shopping. Before her current role in AI, she was responsible for half of Google Play including Books at Google and Search, Recommendations and Infrastructure scaling up Android infrastructure from 40 million phones to over 800 million phones sold.