3 Inspiring Women in Tech Changing the IoT Industry

Anyone who has been tuned into the tech industry in the past few years has heard about the gender gap problem.

To put it lightly, women are vastly underrepresented in the tech sector and the answer isn’t as easy as saying that women just aren’t that interested in tech.

A variety of problems, including exclusive, bro-centric work environments, unequal pay, discriminatory hiring and funding practices, and the widely held cultural idea that young girls should focus on more gender-normative activities in adolescence, have resulted in the lack of women in tech as we know it.

So, how bad is it? Bad. Consider the major technology brands of the world: Google, Apple, Meta, and Twitter.

Together they are the leading innovators in the tech industry and the top employers of that industry, yet when it comes to gender diversity on their tech teams, they are failing miserably.

Google’s U.S. workforce is 66% male, Apple’s research and development team is 65% percent male, Meta’s tech team is 74% male, and Twitter’s tech team is 87% male.

However, that does not mean there aren’t women in tech fighting their way to the top, disrupting the status quo, and helping create space for fellow women.

In fact, in the highly competitive and relatively new sector of the Internet of Things (IoT), there are an array of inspiring, intelligent women running their own tech businesses and changing the IoT industry on a daily basis.

Here’s a look at these powerful women in tech and how they are driving insights and innovation in the IoT industry.

Inspiring Women in Tech Changing IoT Industry

There are countless women in tech innovating in the IoT industry that deserve to be recognized including Limor Fried of Adafruit, Meredith Perry of uBeam, and Anne Lauvergeon of SigFox.

1. Limor Fried, Founder of Adafruit 

Limor Fried is an engineer and the Founder of her company, Adafruit. After founding Adafruit Industries in her MIT dorm room back in 2005, she has grown it into a successful open-source hardware company.

The business provides DIY kits to help individuals learn about engineering and build the skills needed to pursue careers in science, engineering, technology, and math.

These kits include everything from make-your-own phone chargers to learning toys and IoT starter kits.

An accomplished engineer in her own right, Fried has received notable awards and achievements, like being named a White House Champion of Change in 2016, receiving Entrepreneur’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, and being the first female engineer to be on the cover of WIRED magazine.

But her real goal is to get more people interested in a career in tech by providing them with fun and engaging DIY kits through her business.

By creating and providing these kits, specifically those relating to IoT, Fried believes she is making education and careers in IoT and tech accessible to a more diverse group and adding a level of excitement and fun, which is a factor she feels is missing from current tech education.

2. Alicia Asin, Co-Founder and CEO of Libelium

Alicia Asin co-founded Libelium in 2006, a provider of wireless sensor network platforms tailored for Smart Cities and various M2M projects.

As the CEO, Alicia emphasizes how the Internet of Things (IoT) is spearheading the next tech wave, particularly within Smart Cities.

Her background includes a computer engineering degree from the University of Zaragoza and an education from ESADE Business School.

In 2014, Alicia became the first woman honored with the National Young Entrepreneur award by the Spanish Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (CEAJE).

Over her career, she has garnered numerous accolades, such as the Jaume I Award in 2017 and recognition as a Women Innovator in 2018 by the European Commission.

Furthermore, Alicia is a respected speaker on Smart Cities, IoT, and their societal implications.

3. Anne Lauvergeon, Chairman of SIGFOX

Another powerful and inspiring female leader in the tech industry is Anne Lauvergeon, the Chairman of SIGFOX, which is a provider of cellular connectivity for the IoT and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.

Lauvergeon has been disrupting gender stereotypes in the tech industry for decades and has been ranked as one of the most powerful international female leaders by Fortune.

SIGFOX provides the largest IoT network available and is greatly reducing the hurdles facing the global implementation of IoT and M2M solutions, while also improving and extending the battery life of connected devices. 

Without an IoT network framework in place, IoT devices can’t be connected and thus cannot be introduced to the commercial market.

Lauvergeon is working to address this problem at SIGFOX; the solution to which will likely be a key factor in the adoption of IoT devices on a much larger, commercial scale.

As a business that is directly impacting the future of tech, Lauvergeon is proving how important having women in executive roles is to the future success and innovative abilities of any tech business.

Solving the gender gap in Tech

So, what can you do? Donate to charities that encourage and help support girls interested in a career in technology and engineering, like Girls Who Code, ensure your business has a work environment that is conducive to all genders, and make diversity a priority at your tech business.

These inspiring women in tech are helping create a more diversified idea of what a successful tech innovator and leader looks like.

The fact that all of the women in this list are dramatically affecting the current and future state of IoT proves how important it is that women are being encouraged to pursue tech-related careers.

If any one of these women had decided to forgo a career in tech as a result of the exclusive, male-centered work environments they often find themselves in, the rampant unequal pay offered to them, or the idea that it’s not an industry women can succeed in, the tech community and the world would be without these crucial insights and innovations.

If you notice a sizable lack of female tech talent at your business, contact Mondo today. We can connect you with the highly qualified, diverse tech talent your company is missing.

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