30 tech leaders inspire the new STEM generation from Seville at the 5G Forum

• Leading women in the technology industry, including university professors, senior managers of multinationals and heads of departments of operators and technology companies, will send a message of inspiration to future generations.
• The last day of the eighth edition of the 5G Forum, the second virtual one, will be entirely dedicated to female talent.
• The Cartuja Auditorium – managed by Yventu – will host the three face-to-face sessions on Monday 12, Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 May. Subsequently, the final two days will be held in online format on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 May.

Lack of information at an early age, self-demand, fear of failure, stereotypes… There are many factors that prevent the percentage of women in STEM careers and professional and leadership positions in technology companies from increasing. Giving visibility to female talent, especially in the technology industry, is more necessary than ever.

The eighth edition of the 5G Forum will be the best showcase for this, as around 30 women will participate in this benchmark forum on 5G technology. Among them, 15 leaders in the technology industry, including university professors, senior managers of multinationals and heads of departments of operators and technology companies, will send a message of inspiration to future generations during the fifth and final day of this event, already consolidated as a benchmark for 5G and 6G in Spain and Europe.

To date, the percentage of women in STEM careers compared to men is still low and one of the causes that many experts, professionals in the sector and university teachers agree on is the lack of information and pre- university training. “There are cultural and social factors that keep girls away from STEM from an early age”, says María José Escalona, professor in the Department of Computer Languages and Systems at the University of Seville, who will close the fifth edition of the 5G Forum with a very inspiring message: “Technology is not an end, but a means. It is an ally to develop any vocation. Approach it without fear, because there is room for everyone”.

“If there are no young people in high schools and universities, it is difficult to improve the percentages”, says Fini Irles, Director of Engineering for Spain at Vodafone, while for Myriam Leal, KAM in the AAPP department at MasOrange, “the important thing is to give the best of yourself”. This is what this telecommunications enthusiast says and she invites the new generations to bet on this sector without fear of making mistakes.

For many of these women leaders, it is crucial to motivate STEM vocations from a very early age. This is the opinion of Alicia Izquierdo, Councillor for Innovation and Digitalisation at Malaga City Council, who says that “society needs women making decisions about the future of the world” and for this it is vital to teach girls to handle the self-demand they have and that, on many occasions, leads them to abandon the study of careers in the technology sector.

Susana Carillo, New Netwotk Business Opportunities at Endesa Distribución Eléctrica, stresses the need to “awaken a passion for STEM careers from an early age and not wait until the age of 17 to choose a career”. From her point of view, there are no limits for any woman if you combine qualities, passion and effort.

A very similar message to that of Noelia López, Solution Marketing Manager for Intelligent Networks at Ericsson, for whom “women have an important role to play in the technology sector”. Proof of this is the percentage of women in STEM careers, which has gone from 5% in 1982 to approximately 30% today. Ericsson is contributing to this growth with the Leading Women committee, of which Noelia López is a member, and which aims to promote women’s careers within Ericsson and encourage future female engineers.

One of the most veteran of this list of women leaders in the sector is Araceli Gª Cuartango, CEO of Axión and Lineox, who, despite having 35 years of experience behind her, recognises that “there is always something new to learn” and that “there has always been a lot of female talent, but it has always been wasted”. For this reason, she encourages young women to study technical careers because “although they may be more demanding, the effort is worth it”.

For Leonor Ostos, Manager of Innovation and Strategic Projects at Telefónica, seeing women who are leaders in their companies up close helps motivate her to become a benchmark. Today, she is the example, as other women have been for her during her career. For this reason, she has a very clear message for the new generations: “Dare to dream of working in big companies, or in whatever you want. And, when the time comes, dare to do it, even if you are not entirely sure”.

Maura Outeiral, business development director at Gsertel, tells young women that “you should not be afraid to reinvent yourself”. “Take a step, do the best you can and then decide if you need to change course”, she advises after a successful career that has taken her to work in different cities around the world. For her, there is no success without work: “There is no magic formula. Identify your strengths, enhance them and put them at the service of what you do. And then work, work, work and work.

Elena Puigrefagut, project manager at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), encourages young women to study technical careers. “It is important to choose a career that you like, as you will spend many hours working on it throughout your life,” she says.

Carmen Pérez, head of technology projects at the RTVE Archive, uses her career as an example to encourage girls who dream of becoming leaders in large companies. For her, adapting, improving and not being afraid of change is essential to reach as high as possible and her message focuses on the fact that women must believe in their worth: “Women are good in these fields and we must start by believing it”, says Carmen Pérez, who sends a very direct message: “Women must not underestimate their potential”.

A very similar vision to that offered by Inés Sanz, manager of space capacity engineering at Hispasat, who asks young women to believe in themselves: “It is important that they do not let anyone doubt their abilities and that they believe that they are capable of achieving whatever they set out to do”, says Inés Sanz, for whom resilience, that is, “knowing how to overcome failures and learn from them, is another key aspect”.

Virginia Teixeira, Principal Systems Architect EMEAR at Cisco Systems, will share a message that has helped her throughout her career: “Good enough is not good enough”. A mindset that has helped him evolve and that he recommends taking as an example. “You have to be persistent, be committed to what you do and don’t settle. Doing your best always pays off,” she adds.

For Patricia Tejado, Director of Digital Public Services at GMV’s Secure e-Solutions, the most important message she can give to future generations is “not to lose self-confidence”. She also considers it essential to surround yourself with talented people, listen to others and learn from them. “And, most importantly, never lose hope.

Luisa Bastero, sales director at Viavi Solutions, believes that the lack of women in STEM careers is due to a lack of knowledge about what an engineer actually does. “We need to explain from an early age the real impact of technology in everyday life,” says Bastero, who encourages young women to study STEM careers because they can be “the architects of the future, improve lives and transform society” that is to come.

In addition to all of them, another fifteen will give voice to female talent throughout the 5G Forum. Julia Criado, Deputy Director General of Planning and Management of the Radio Spectrum of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration; Cristina Peñas, commercial director of Axión; Belén Lanuza, general director of Dihbu; and Eugenia Taillefer, director of AIFunded, will participate in the opening day.

During the second day at the Cartuja Auditorium it will be the turn of Mercedes Fernández, Innovation Advisor at NTT DATA; Zaloa Fernández, Senior Researcher at Vicomtech; Cecilia Jordán, Business Development Manager Industry 4.0 at Teltronic; and Marina García Sahagún, Managing Consultant at iPlus|F.

The third day, dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity in a face-to-face format, will be attended by María del Pino González-Junco, Cybersecurity Alliances Manager, Managing Director for Charter of Trust at Siemens; Arancha Jiménez, VP – Head of Cybersecurity Services and Products Iberia at Atos; and Beatriz Martínez, Director of Customer Security at Ericsson Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

The fourth day, first session in online format, will be attended by Angélica Sánchez, Portfolio Brand Director at MasOrange; and Nerea Míguez, Head of 5G / IoT Business Development at Vodafone.

Seville will become the epicentre of 5G and 6G technology from 12 to 16 May with the celebration of the eighth edition of the 5G Forum, an event already consolidated as a benchmark for 5G and 6G in Spain and Europe. The Cartuja Auditorium -managed by Yventu-, located in the Cartuja Science and Technology Park, will host the three face-to-face sessions (Monday 12, Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14), while on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 the two virtual sessions will be held in online format.

All the conferences will be available for on-demand viewing through ‘El Observatorio’, the digital platform of Medina Media Events, where each conference will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, free of charge.

The eighth edition of the 5G Forum is organised by Medina Media Events and is supported by Orange, Telefónica, DIGI, Netmetrix, Huawei, ZTE, GMV, NTT DATA, HPE – Aruba Networking, Vicomtech, Gradiant, i2CAT, OpenNebula, Ayscom, Keysight, Teltronic, Datatronics, Oracle, University of Málaga, Axión, Wavecontrol, Nokia, Rohde & Schwarz, Hispasat, Circet, Iplus|F, Dihbu, SAPEC, Gsertel, Kenmei, Ingenalia, AIFunded, Opossum, AEVAC, Secmotech, AEVAC and SecmoF. Schwarz, Hispasat, Circet, Iplus|F, Dihbu, SAPEC, Gsertel, Kenmei, Ingenalia, AIFunded, Opossum, AEVAC and Secmotic, among others.