AGENDA

Entrepreneurship requires autonomy. For a woman to become a “female leader” she needs to be able to develop personally as well as establishing and running a successful business. This panel explores how digital skills and technology supports women´s self-development and tech start-ups.

Factors that make women successful STEM entrepreneurs and innovators
Moderator: Carina Lopes, Head of the Digital Future Society Think Tank of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Spain.

How improving the policy environment can support women ́s employment?
Iva Hamel, Senior Private Sector Specialist in the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank Group, Country Representative Abu Dhabi.

How women can use ICT to succeed in their chosen field
Irena Bednarich, Vice President, International Government Relations EMEA & APJ @ Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Member of the Executive Board of DIGITALEUROPE.

How to overcome difficult moments and the idea of quitting as a tech entrepreneur
Paula Newby, CEO Predixa, an expert in the field of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

How to go from a sole researcher to a team-worker
Dr. Katerina Garyfalou, Commercial and Business Development Director, Clean Planet Energy, United Kingdom

The journey towards women’s empowerment has not been an easy one, and every woman has faced obstacles and challenges along the way. This panel will explore how ICT Technology has helped empower women to understand, analyze and overcome the barriers to achieve their dreams.

What existing tools can be used to support the empowerment of women?
Moderator: Madi Sharma, Founder, and CEO of the Madi-Group.

Tools to empower and promote the role of women in R&D and innovation.
Javier Ponce, General Director of CDTI – Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology, Spain

How umbrella organizations & networks can facilitate and support female empowerment.
Susanne Mikhail, UN Women Regional Director.

How women can access both conventional and alternative sources of finance
Grete Gutmann, Senior Project Manager, CIVITTA Start-up Team, Estonia

How telecommunication empowered my career and helped me to expand into new areas
Nadia Katsanou, ITU Scientific Expert in Telecommunications & Spectrum, coordinator of CEPT ITU-R initiative.

The majority of successful entrepreneurs have found an idea that is worth investing their time, energy, and commitment to turn into a business. This panel will explore how women can develop the needed drive to turn their idea into reality.

How can I turn my enthusiasm into business success?

Moderator: Rima Karaki, Senior Media Professional – Middle East, Lebanon.

How my passion for business became my success?
Dr. Sara Al Madani, Co-Founder & CEO HalaHi.

How to develop your idea from your initial concept into an operating business?
Charlotte Aschim, Co-founder and CEO totalctrl.com Norway.

How to mobilize your passion for re-imagining financial services for 250 million migrant workers worldwide?
Padmini Gupta, Co-founder and CEO RISE and XARE, World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, is a passionate advocate for society’s ignored voices.

How to assess your commitment to a business idea
Tarja Castel, Founder & Visionaire Moxworld.org

Today’s world is increasingly being defined by concepts such as social impact and social consciousness. Therefore, for an idea to be successful it needs to be driven by an authentic and clear purpose; something that will make the world a better place for all to live in. This panel will explore how to identify a purpose that matches individuals’ objectives and how to use it for the greater benefit of society.

Whose lives will my idea/ organization change?
Moderator: Edit Herczog, Founder & CEO Vision & Values, MEP 2004-2014, Data Sommelier, Believer in Science and Globalization, looking for added value creation both for European citizens and business communities, Belgium.

How to become a person of value
Anne Rimmer, Policy Analyst OECD – HEInnovate, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs.

How purpose can change the world and make you a successful entrepreneur
Maria Syrengela, Deputy Minister of Labour, Former General Secretary for Gender Equality, Ministry of Interior, Greece.

How the WEMentoring Programme can support the Next Generation of Female Leaders in the Gulf Countries?
Dr. Sabiha Mumtaz, Assistant Professor Faculty of Business, Wollongong University of Dubai

How I found my purpose in my career
Mona Ataya, Founder & CEO Mumzworld.com.

14: 00   Moving to the Spanish Pavilion – ¡Bienvenido a España!

14: 05   Ikigai Photography

14: 15   Wake & Shake with Tariq Qureishly

The afternoon session will be an interactive and immersive workshop of the panelists and the participants connecting all the theoretical knowledge they acquired in the morning session and to form a set of concrete guidelines on how to excel and become successful entrepreneurs themselves.

We will help you define your personal and professional IKIGAI, the famous Japanese formula for “Happiness & Meaning” and crystalizing your core PURPOSE. This will start your personal transformation to become a purpose-driven person & project significantly improving your chances for success.

The result of this event will:
– Enable you to learn and apply a universally accepted concept to your life and your project
– Provide actionable next steps for you to excel in “exponential times”, including understanding the necessity and power of your new super-powers of the future.

Session Lead/Moderator: Tariq Qureishy, Founder & CEO of Xponential Group. Tariq is a futurist, global speaker, entrepreneur, finance, tech & media professional & humanitarian with over 25 years in top leadership positions in Dow Jones Markets, Times/Sunday Times & Bloomberg Media. Today, Tariq is contributing and making a difference by creating a platform enabling women for top “futuristic” leadership/board roles (xFAB Women), curating & leading transformation programs for boards, CEOs & companies, inspiring start-ups, and youth for break-through in projects has an active media presence as a thought leader.

Facilitators: 

Shada El-Sharif, Senior Advisor EBRD, Founder, Mentor, Jordan.

Anamaria Magri Pantea, Secretary General, International Integrity Foundation.

Dimitris Raftopoulos, European Affairs Manager, ECWT.  

Douglas Aitkenhead, Team Leader, EU – GCC Dialogue on Economic Diversification.  

Eva Fabry, Director ECWT.

H.E. Íñigo de Palacio España, Ambassador of Spain to the United Arab Emirates.