Today, Booking.com, one of the world’s largest travel e-commerce companies, launched its 2020 Technology Playmaker Awards to celebrate female trailblazers across the global technology industry. Introduced in 2017, the awards recognize women who are pushing the boundaries of excellence, leadership and innovation in technology, and inspiring future generations of female tech leaders. The awards are part of Booking.com’s wider commitment to raise awareness of the need for more diversity in the tech sector, encourage emerging female tech talent, and foster early curiosity and passion for the next generation.
Nominations can be submitted at http://techplaymakerawards.
Winners will be selected in nine award categories which recognize the breadth and diversity of the contributions that women are making in Technology, IT, and Digital related fields – Role Model, Rising Technologist, Business Leader, Technology Innovator, Social Impact, Entrepreneur, Academic Achievement, Champion of Change, and Employer. Debuting this year are the Entrepreneur and Academic Achievement categories, which reflect the impact of women-led start-ups and women who are transforming Tech, IT and STEM education. Also new, Champion of Change recognizes a male or female agent of change who is acting to tackle the under-representation of women in tech.
The awards are open to women at all levels in any technology-related field who are disrupting or transforming business, industry or communities using technology, with last year’s awards receiving entries from over 60 countries. The Employer Award recognizes an organization that has made significant progress in achieving gender diversity and inclusion in IT and technology. Winners will be selected by a renowned judging panel of industry leaders, entrepreneurs and academics from around the world.
The Booking.com 2020 Technology Playmaker of the Year will be chosen from among the individual category winners. This is the person who the judging panel believe has made the most impact on the global technology scene. Each category winner will receive a monetary prize of €5,000 to help advance their business and professional goals, with the overall winner collecting an additional €10,000 prize.
“Closing the gender gap and ensuring that women technologists receive the same support and opportunities as their counterparts is critical if tech investment and innovation is to be fair, balanced and reflective of the diverse society we live in. As a tech company, we embrace the opportunity to help create a more inclusive workforce by eliminating barriers for more women to enter and succeed in tech,” says Gillian Tans, Booking.com Chairwoman. “By championing women showing remarkable leadership, ingenuity, collaboration and innovation in technology, the Booking.com Technology Playmaker Awards aspire to empower the next generation of women to consider a career in tech, advance the dialogue on the need for greater diversity and create lasting tech visionaries and role models.”
Despite progress made towards equal gender representation, more than one in two women globally (53%) say a lack of female decision makers in tech organizations holds them back from entering the tech industry. Similar figures say they’re hindered by a lack of access to mentors or role models (52%), and the fact that girls aren’t made aware of tech opportunities at a young age (50%).
Linda Liukas, creator of Hello Ruby, a children’s picture book series that depicts the whimsical world of computer science, and founder of Rails Girls, a global movement to teach young women programming in over 300 cities, was named the 2019 Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year. The Hello Ruby series has been translated into 27 languages. Linda will join the judging panel for this year’s awards, alongside a range of tech leaders and champions from business, academia and politics.
“Women have so much to offer the industry and awards like these really help to highlight how diverse a career in technology can be. Tech offers endless opportunities to transform and change the way you work. The moment I decided to take the step into tech, I was able to realize my own possibility and curiosity. I was able to start building a career based on me and my life, not the other way around. It’s been an amazing journey and I hope more women are inspired to do the same,” says Liukas.
The Booking.com 2020 Technology Playmaker Awards will bring together a diverse cross-section of tech professionals, luminaries, leaders and supporters of women in technology from around the world in London, UK, on March 26, 2020. Now in its third year, the Technology Playmaker Awards are building a community for women in the technology field to connect with one another, exchange ideas, and celebrate their successes in a celebratory, welcoming and supportive environment.
As part of its wider commitment to supporting women in tech, Booking.com is again partnering with Web Summit to host the ‘Women in Tech’ Lounge and mentoring program in Lisbon on November 4-7, 2019.
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