The real-life part will be held in Warsaw at Hala Expo, but it will also be a solid global online segment. The virtual part will engage participants from different time zones – from San Francisco to New Delhi! Ten thousand people will attend the event in total. The motto for this edition is Hope, Inspiration, and Technologies!
The event’s purpose is to integrate women from the ICT area and to celebrate their achievements and expertise. The other goal is to make Poland an international hub for high-quality IT studies and strengthen Poland’s brand as a center for the modern IT industry.
OTHER PROJECTS
The organizer of this event, the Perspektywy Education Foundation, has been implementing projects for women in technology for 15 years. Such as the “Girls as Engineers!” event, co-created by 20 Polish technical universities. It was attended by 200,000 female high school students. In 2018, Foundation received the European Commission’s award for the “IT FOR SHE” program. Because it was evaluated as the best activity for women in the EU, Bianka Siwińska, the Summit’s creator, decided to spread its wings.
“The challenge of increasing women’s participation in the technology industry is a universal problem. What we have done so far in Poland is also necessary in Europe and the world. We were ready to take this next courageous step and sail out onto international waters.”
Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit 2019. The National Museum of Technology presents the only Enigma encryption machine operating in Poland. More information about Enigma is available here
FAST PROGRESS
Initially, Perspektywy’s ambition was to bring together one thousand women from IT/TECH. However, the idea turned out to be so successful that in 2018 not just one thousand participants came to Warsaw, but 2,500. Furthermore, in 2019 there were 6,500 of them from 52 countries of the world. In 2020, despite the harsh pandemic conditions and the need to move the event online, 8,300 people from 103 countries worldwide took part (!).
The event turned out to be a great success. Fifty top technology companies engaged in it, along with ten leading universities. The military (participants tried coding on two authentic copies of the ENIGMA), the City of Warsaw, innovative institutions, embassies (strong participation of the U.S. and Canada embassies), the international partners, included the prestigious IEEE organisation and the University of Oxford supported the Summit as well. The number of social partners invited to collaborate was a record-breaking 70! The European Union also appreciated it: Mariya Gabriel, the EU Commissioner for Innovation, Science, Education, Culture and Youth, opened the Summit twice – in person and online.
VIBRANT PROGRAM
Over three years, the Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit became the most prominent and hottest event for women in new technologies in Europe and the third-largest globally. It is also the most significant technology conference organized in Poland – regardless of gender.
“Since 2018, our event has been steadily attracting and inspiring talented women, who come for the opportunity to discover the latest technological visions of the world’s future and draw inspiration from them,” Siwińska said. “It is thanks to the vibrant program of the Summit and the outstanding speakers and mentors who are ready to share their knowledge and experience. Three hundred speakers, coaches, and mentors are involved in the program every year. These are the technology world leaders from the most innovative companies and the most ambitious research centers – such as Oxford, Harvard, and MIT. Their commitment and enthusiasm are incredible. We all feel that we are building new values together.”
Scholarship holders from the East with the flags of their countries of origin. In total, over 700 girls took part in three editions of the conference thanks to these scholarships
HELP FOR THE EAST
The Summit also has an additional, critical mission – scholarships for talented female students and young IT scientists from the East. Every year two hundred young women from Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are invited. They can enter a competition to receive a grant enabling them to come to the Perspektywy Women in Tech Summit, covering the cost of their ticket, travel, and accommodation in Warsaw. It is done as part of the „Poland IT HUB” program, promoting Poland as an IT hub in the East. The program is implemented by the Ministry of National Education and supported by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, the German Marshall Fund, the U.S. Embassy and the Fulbright Commission. In total, 700 young women from 10 Eastern countries participated in the three Summit editions. Polish IT and science students of both genders can also apply for free tickets.
Find out more here
