This year for me it’s all about three women, who I’ve had the pleasure of seeing working in transforming different bits of government service provision; Emma Mulqueeny, Martha Lane Fox and Emer Coleman. All three of them are doing amazing things and doing it with a combination of sincerity, tact, sensitivity, sheer bloody-mindedness, where need be, and above all humility.

They’re shining examples of why we need women in technology. They may not be coders, but they understand the transformational effects of technology on people and moreover on people’s lives mediating their interaction with government and society.

In testosterone driven technology teams the end user is often forgotten, subservient to a user story that may or may not be relevant to them. All too often the characteristics of the developer is believed to be that of the user; a gap which is never further from the truth than in public facing government IT services.

What Martha, Emer and Emma are doing is pushing forward the agenda on government data and government as a platform with the aim of serving users better, considering those who may be digitally excluded or just unable to use the government website they encounter. It’s not just a female trait at all, there are many others like Steph Gray and Paul Clarke who are very adept. The difference is that my heroines of this year have defeated the ceilings which sadly still exist to be in a position where they really can make a difference.

I’d love to see more women in technology. The role of people like Emer, Emma and Martha is so vital in making sure that we make the most of the value of people and the value of technology. We need more of these three, sadly I think we’ll have to clone them as they’re all utterly one of a kind and it’s a privilege and a joy to see them do what they do. 

There’s one more important heroine I think of in the same way, and that is Alex Butler who is, wherever she can, breaking down the silos of procurement and is thus making it possible for smaller more user centric teams to deliver the services to people that Emma, Martha and Emer are dreaming of. If these four wonderful people get their way, people’s interactions with government, both nationally and locally in London will be so much richer and easier. Thank you, you four.