Microphone in hand, the next award is introduced: “Best initiative for the inclusion of women in the technological field.” Seconds later, a name: “INNOLAB Bilbao,” and then why: “For their efforts and drive on the LEADERS IN TECH project.”

Where are we? At the latest edition of Librecon 2022, held in Bilbao, where after two days of enriching conferences and talks for the scientific community, the events culminated with an awards ceremony that was both exciting and gratifying

It’s Elena Zárraga, a member of the Board of Directors of the multi-sector and multi-technology open innovation platform INNOLAB Bilbao, who stands up to receive the award on behalf of the platform and all the experts and professionals who are part of the LEADERS IN TECH community.

But, what is LEADERS IN TECH? It’s an initiative by INNOLAB Bilbao that serves as a stage to disseminate, generate, and recognize new technologies and the scientific/technological talent that goes alongside these new breakthroughs. As its Director, Iraia Monteagudo, says, “It’s the place to learn about the latest technological trends and the new opportunities for their application in the business and social ecosystem, doing so alongside industry leaders. A meeting point for talent, technology, and innovation to bring the technologies of the future closer to the present through practical cases that provide a response to the question that defines all we do: ‘Tech, yes… but what? for?”

Although this adventure began in 2020, in just three years it has already mustered participation by and collaboration with almost 100 multidisciplinary experts from important companies like Airbus, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Red Hat, and the Government of Spain’s General Secretariat for Innovation, among many others. There are also more than 80 additional players involved, such as partners and other corporations, start-ups, SMEs, governmental agencies, business clusters and players from different sectors, technology centers, and universities.

The team found a way to get their voice out there through three main lines:

• LEADERS IN TECH CONFERENCE

  An annual conference on the present and future of technology and innovation organized by leading women in the sector, which will hold its fourth edition on October 27, 2023. You can’t miss it. Would you like to be part of it? Contact INNOLAB Bilbao via email at coordinacion@ilb.eus.

• LEADERS IN TECH THINK TANKS

  Periodic events that arise from the need to delve deeper into each specific technology.

• LEADERS IN TECH COMMUNITY

  Periodic interviews with professionals in the scientific/technological field.

All of us feel a strong need to belong, to see ourselves reflected in someone else, and to find a light to guide us and brighten our path. Thus, initiatives like LEADERS IN TECH are important in a technological context in which the future is simply something that is already happening now, and that must be reconsidered from a practical point of view. Thanks to all our colleagues and their daily efforts, we are seeing how the latest technologies are becoming more understandable and, above all, applicable. Because, as Iraia Monteagudo emphasized above, “Tech, yes... but, what for?”