Calling the UK’s leading women in technology

Applications are being welcomed for the UK’s leading Awards scheme recognising the achievements of women working in IT. The 2013 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards were launched by the UK’s largest female business community, everywoman, in association with womenintechnology.co.uk to recognise the achievements of women working in the sector and to encourage a pipeline of new talent who will become future industry leaders. FDM Group is partnering with everywoman for the first time in 2013, following the international IT service provider’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheila Flavell receiving the accolade of ‘Leader of the Year in a Corporate Organisation’ in last year’s Awards.

Currently there is a significant gender imbalance within the technology sector with females making up only 19% of ITC managers and only 14% of IT strategy and planning professionals*. However the GCSE results announced in August showed that more girls than ever are choosing science subjects, and a higher percentage are achieving grades A-C than their male counterparts, demonstrating that the tide may be turning in terms of the gender imbalance amongst future generations**.

This Awards programme, backed by industry leaders, aims to encourage women to see technology as a fast-moving, innovative sector where they can excel, as demonstrated by the role models unearthed since the programme’s launch in 2011.

The FDM everywoman in Technology Awards are free to enter and the 2013 categories include:

Rising Star of the Year – awarded to a woman under 26 who is excelling in her technology career and is the one to watch.

Team Leader of the Year in an SME (with under 500 employees) – awarded to a woman whose team leadership has greatly contributed to the organisation’s success.

Leader of the Year in a corporate organisation (with over 500 employees) – sponsored by Cisco - awarded to a women operating in a senior technology position making a contribution to the strategic direction of the business.

Innovator of the Year – sponsored by IET – The Institution of Engineering and Technology - awarded to a woman designing, developing, researching or implementing technology in an unconventional and innovative way.

Entrepreneur of the Year - awarded to an owner/operator of a technology business whose vision and talent will inspire others.

Inspiration of the Year – awarded to an individual (male or female) for their active commitment to encouraging, advancing or championing the progress of women working in technology.

Woman of the Year – sponsored by FDM Group - awarded to an exceptional woman whose vision, innovation and success makes her an outstanding role model for future generations.

Entries are open from 7 September 2012 until 19 November 2012 and full details are online at www.everywoman.com/techawards .

Maxine Benson MBE, co-founder of everywoman comments: “Technology has provided businesses of all sizes with the tools to thrive and succeed and is vital for the future growth of our economy. These awards celebrate the extraordinary talent in the sector and uncover the women who are excelling. We want to get the message out that IT offers diverse and creative opportunities, particularly to a new group of tech-savvy women that have grown up with consumer technology as part of their every-day lives. What’s more, those companies that nurture and develop their female talent are most likely to achieve success”.

Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer and Founder Director of FDM Group states, “The FDM everywoman in Technology Awards are a fantastic platform to showcase and celebrate the efforts and successes of so many high-calibre women in such a male-dominated industry. We are delighted to be sponsoring the 2013 Awards and support everywoman in their determination to raise the profile of women in technology. Like everywoman, FDM is fully committed to helping more women further their careers and break through the ‘glass ceiling’. At FDM, we are dedicated to supporting our female workforce and encouraging other women to pursue IT, and as a result we have seen the percentage of female staff increase to 23%, well above the 14.4% industry average.”

Maggie Berry, Managing Director of womenintechnology.co.uk adds: “Women currently only make up less than 20 per cent of the UK's IT workforce so we are delighted to be working with everywoman again to uncover and celebrate some of the hidden female talent in the UK's technology profession through the 2013 awards programme. We want to actively champion the women who are already doing great work in this sector and who, through these awards, will become inspirational role models for a future generation of female technologists.”

The awards programme will culminate in a glittering awards ceremony to be held on 19 March 2013 at The Savoy.

Twitter @everywomanUK - Hashtag - #ewtech

*e-skills, the UK Skills Council for Business and Information Technology

** UKRC – WISE

Notes to editors:

About everywoman
everywoman is an expert in the advancement of women in business. Founded in September 1999 by Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, it is a membership organisation with a community of over 40,000 individuals and growing. everywoman challenges and changes the mindsets of individuals and business through its programme of events, awards, training, online content and projects such as; Modern Muse - showcasing successful women in business to inspire young women and girls into the world of work, and the Navigator-a practical guide to business success.

everywoman supports members though the various stages of their business life, focusing them to clarify their goals; ensuring they have the right mind-sets to realise them; equipping them with skills to generate long-term success and elevating their achievements. Its ambition is to become the world’s largest and most influential female business network, inspiring generations of businesswomen and championing their cause, talents and prospects. Karen and Maxine were both awarded the MBE in January 2009 for services to women’s enterprise.

About FDM Group
FDM is one of Europe’s fastest growing international IT companies. It is well known for its award-winning graduate training programme that has offered thousands of graduates the opportunity to kick-start their career in technology. The company specialises in providing clients with resources trained in core IT disciplines, business analysis, software development, system testing and quality assurance, application and infrastructure support.

FDM provides flexible, cost-effective and low-risk IT services to over 200 clients worldwide to help them achieve specific business objectives within various sectors, including financial services, media, retail and insurance. The award-winning firm enjoys a number of strategic partnerships with leading global technology players such as Murex. At last year’s Awards Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer was awarded ‘Leader of the Year in a Corporate Organisation’. For more information, please visit www.fdmgroup.com or follow the company’s latest news on Twitter @FDMGroupLtd.

About womenintechnology.co.uk:
www.womenintechnology.co.uk is an organisation committed to increasing the number of women working and achieving in the UK’s technology profession - since our launch in 2005 we have grown into a network of over 7,000 individuals. We provide a dedicated online IT job board for employers, regularly host networking events, run professional development and career orientated training courses and provide in-depth information about key matters affecting the IT industry and the people who work within it. Any firms looking to hire more female technologists in the UK – highlighting why they are an ideal place for a woman to have a successful technology career – should have a chat with us! And any ladies working in IT or IT-related roles, should join our free network so that we can support them in building the highly successful and satisfying IT career they’ve always wanted. For more information, please go to www.womenintechnology.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter @womenintech, join our LinkedIn group 'Women in Technology UK' or become a fan of our Facebook page 'Women in Technology'.

FDM Group
Lanchester House
Trafalgar House
Brighton
East Sussex
BN1 4FU

This release was published on openPR.