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Revealed: UAE's 5 most prominent women in tech world

Dubai - The list comes on the eve of Women’s Day which is marked on March 8 globally.

Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, director-general of the Smart Dubai Office; Ambareen Musa, CEO of souqalmal.com; and Mona Ataya, CEO and founder of Mumzworld.com, have been recognised among the most prominent UAE-based women in the world of technology.

Kinda Ibrahim, Global Content Partnerships director for MEA and Turkey at Twitter; and Ming Hu, co-founder of Women In Tech Dubai, are the other two among the top five most prominent women, according to NordVPN.

The list comes on the eve of Women’s Day which is marked on March 8 globally.

“Such inspiring UAE-based examples help to combat misconceptions about the tech industry and encourage women to be more determined to pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Women should believe that the technology sector is a place where they belong,” says Laura Tyrell, head of PR at NordVPN.

“Girls are globally held off STEM following stereotypes according to which that’s not something women do. Gladly, there are numerous UAE-based women examples to prove the opposite. We need to talk more about such inspiring women to encourage the rest to break through the stereotypes and pursue tech careers,” says Tyrell.

According to the Arab Gulf State Institute, 40 per cent of university students specialising in computer science and IT in the Middle East are women. The percentage is even higher in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where women represent 70-80 per cent of computer science and IT students, compared to 15-20 per cent in the US.

Below is the details of five UAE-based women who are shaping the world of technology:

* Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, director-general of the Smart Dubai Office, the government entity, is aiming to revolutionise the city through four pillars: efficient, seamless, safe, and personalised. Aisha is also the chairperson of the Dubai Future Council for Digital Transactions, SDG 11 Global Council, and a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils.

* Kinda Ibrahim, global content partnerships director for MEA and Turkey at Twitter, previously worked for tech giants such as Microsoft and Yahoo. While passionate about the convergence of media and technology as well as tech startups, Kinda co-led Twitter's entry into markets across the Middle East. She is now part of the regional leadership team.

* Ming Hu, co-founder of Women In Tech Dubai, which seeks to create an educational and supportive community for women in STEM professions. She is also a Senior Fullstack Engineer at Tradeling, a technology startup with a vision to become the preferred B2B eMarketplace in MENA.

* Ambareen Musa, while being the CEO of the first regional online comparison site for financial and non-financial consumer products Souqalmal.com, she is also listed among the top 50 most influential women in the Arab World. Besides, she is the winner of the Emirates Women Award by the Government of Dubai.

* Mona Ataya, CEO and founder of Mumzworld.com, has proven to be one of the Middle East's most prominent women entrepreneurs. She created a leading online marketplace for all the things a mother, baby, and child might need. It was the first enterprise of its kind in the Middle Eastern region.

-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com