WITS Ireland member, Aileen Wynne, AIB, has been awarded IBM Champion!
IBM Champions are IT professionals, business leaders, developers, or educators
who influence and mentor others advocating for IBM’s community, products and
technology. The Champions become part of a large, international network of experts
in many fields who are happy to share their knowledge and expertise, as well as an
increased visibility to broaden their scope of influence. As of 2024, the program has
elected 1155 professionals in over 60 countries.
Ms. Wynne volunteers on the GSE UK Conference organising committee and
founded the Women in IT stream there. She has also spoken at a number events of
the wonders of working on the legendary mainframe and encouraging young people
into the mainframe community.
Ms. Wynne says:
“I was excited and delighted to become an IBM Champion. It’s an honour to be recognised as an advocate for the mainframe community, bringing new people to the platform and also for Women in STEM and IT. It’s vital that we bring new and younger, people into the mainframe community and onto the platform as it’s going to be around a long time. I’m privileged to be a second generation mainframer, following my father. While mainframes aren’t seen as the new trendy technology, people use them all the time without realising (have you used your credit card lately, or booked a flight?) and it’s a platform that’s constantly updating, evolving and changing to be what the business needs at the time. The mainframe is 60 years old this year, and I can see it running for another 60, though, as always, the mainframe of the future will not be the same as the current AI infused, hybrid cloud based models of today.
The GSE UK Virtual conference, Where Technology and Talent Meet Tomorrow, is
taking place from the 23 rd to 25 th April 2024. There are over 150 sessions on all sorts of mainframe related topics. There is also a 101 stream, catering to those new to the platform, or with an interest in having a look. Aileen Wynne, WITS member, will be chairing the Women in IT stream, where the keynote presentation is “Thinking about concealing your gender identity on your resume?”, by Swathi Javvaji and Eleni
Plakopiti of Broadcom. She will then facilitate a panel discussion following on from
this session. The conference is free to GSE members, though a small charge is made to non-members to cover costs:
https://conferences.gse.org.uk/2024V