John Healy has won the Male Advocate of the Year Award at the inaugural Women in Tech Awards, which took place on Friday evening at Belfast’s Europa Hotel. John is CEO of Allstate NI and a member of the Women in STEM Steering Group. The Steering Group’s Chair, Dr Bryan Keating, was Highly Commended.

Nearly 300 guests from all business sectors came together to recognise and reward the innovative individuals operating in today’s tech sector, in what was the first ceremony of its kind in Northern Ireland.

Hosted by Sarah Travers and featuring a keynote speech from Deepa Mann-Kler, Chief Executive of Neon, the awards honoured seven amazing women and one inspiring male.

The Outstanding Woman in Tech 2022 award, sponsored by Version 1, was presented to Patricia O’Hagan MBE, CEO of Core Systems, whose 20 years of international tech experience spans the fields of engineering and product development. Patricia is a long-term ambassador, mentor and role model for women in tech across Northern Ireland and in 2013 was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2013 Royal New Year Honours list for services to the NI Economy.

Roseann Kelly, CEO at Women in Business, commented: “It’s an honour to bring together so many inspiring and successful women from across Northern Ireland for the first Women in Tech Awards. This is a hugely exciting time for the tech sector locally, and with it comes an opportunity to platform those individuals leading the way. These Awards are crucial to promote positive recognition and encourage others to strive towards achieving their goals and challenging outdated stereotypes across NI and beyond.”

Lorna McAdoo, Group Director of Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) and NI Lead at Version 1, sponsors of the Outstanding Woman in Tech Award added: “The 2022 Women in Tech Awards was a celebration of just some of the great women who work across the broad spectrum of technology here in NI. I was incredibly proud to see so many join in the celebration of each other’s successes. All of the winners should be incredibly proud of their achievements and our hope is that this will go on to inspire other women and unlock opportunities for future generations of women in tech.”

The Women in Tech 2022 award winners

C Level Woman of the Year sponsored by PwC UK
  • Mary Scullion – Fujitsu
Digital Transformation Leader sponsored by Core Systems
  • Julie Shannon – Almac Group Ltd
Entrepreneur of the Year sponsored by Allstate NI
  • Tori Cameron – SNAP – Social Media Marketing
Tech Team of the Year sponsored by Realtime
  • BT – team led by Melanie McMordie & Janet Burns
Tech Advocate of the Year sponsored by CIVICA
  • Louise Black – PwC
Returner of the Year sponsored by Deloitte
  • Jude McVitty
Male Advocate of the Year sponsored by Diversity Mark
  • John Healy – Allstate NI
One to Watch in the Future sponsored by Slice
  • Ellen Marks – ubloquity
Outstanding Woman in Tech Award 2022 sponsored by Version 1
  • Patricia O’Hagan MBE