Yorkshire women win IT national recognition

The winners include Sam Mudd, managing director at Pocklington-based Phoenix Software, who won Business Leader Of The Year. Ms Mudd was praised by the judges for having a high percentage of women in her organisation.

The others winners included: Sally Bogg, head of end user services at Leeds Beckett University; Helen Milner (chief executive) and Charlotte Murray (COO & director of social inclusion) at Sheffield-based Good Things Foundation and Marta Raper, senior project manager at NHS Digital’s head office in Leeds.

The Business Leader Of The Year award was given to a female leader of a technology company, or a business leader within a large technology company, who has demonstrated outstanding business leadership over the last 18 months.

Judges examined the growth of the company, the innovation it has brought to the market and specific achievements and initiatives of the candidates. Business Leader of the Year was sponsored by Barclays.

The organisers said Ms Mudd is passionate about tech and working with female leaders and employees - and people in general. She gained a Psychology degree and was running Novell UK Channel by the age of 28. Now managing director for Phoenix, the judges said her motto is “never do anything half-heartedly or without passion - always make it count”.

The judges said Ms Mudd is a long-standing leader and the way she retains staff was a major factor in winning the award.

The Business Role Model Of The Year award went to Sally Bogg, head of end user services at Leeds Beckett University.

The judges were looking for a female business leader in technology who has been an effective role model to other women in the last 18 months. The judges examineddemonstrations of leadership and business achievements, as well as examples of being a role model and inspiring other women to succeed in technology. Business Role Model of the Year was sponsored by BMC Software.

Ms Bogg was described as "a northern lass with a keen interest in customer service excellence, higher education and women in tech".

She joined Leeds Beckett University as head of end user services in 2015, where her role is to lead, develop and manage the teams responsible for end user services.

The judges said Ms Bogg's non-traditional career trajectory shows that anyone can become an IT leader if they have passion and drive.

"Her work in the higher education IT industry has really made a difference," they added.

The E-skills Initiative Of The Year award was given to Helen Milner (chief executive) and Charlotte Murray (COO & director of social inclusion) at Sheffield-based Good

Things Foundation.

The joint award was open to organisations that have undertaken an initiative that encouraged and helped women and girls to improve their digital skills and start (or resume) a

career in the technology sector. This could involve education, training, marketing and various other campaigns, and could also include returnship or "return to work" schemes. Judges assessed commitment to the cause, awareness raised, impact on the organisation and industry, and ultimate results of the initiative.

Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, supporting digitally and socially excluded people to improve their lives through digital. It does this through the management of the UK-wide Online Centres Network and the development and maintenance of the market-leading online learning platform, Learn My Way.

The judges said Good Things Foundation stood out with its relentless commitment to improving lives through digital skills.

The organisers said: "The judges were amazed by the large-scale impact the small charity has made, having helped over two million people to improve their basic digital skills and quality of life.

The Editor's Choice award went to Marta Raper, senior project manager at NHS Digital’s head office in Leeds.

The judges were looking for "a woman who has achieved something exceptional in the IT industry" and was chosen by Information Age’s editorial team.

They were looking for someone who has demonstrated strong leadership, trend setting, technology adoption or awareness of women in IT. The Editor’s Choice award was sponsored by Information Age.

The judges said: "Marta Raper has enjoyed a stellar rise within NHS Digital, propelled by her passion for improving health and social care through the use of technology. She has demonstrated strong and successful leadership whilst overseeing the implementation of several critical and complex projects along with her team."

Ben Rossi, editorial director at Vitesse Media and founder of the Women in IT Awards, said: "To have five of our 19 winners based in Yorkshire is an incredible demonstration of the outstanding female technology talent in the region.

"The most successful organisations are those realising that a workforce which provides a true diversity of thought is a critical driver of both innovation and business value in today's economy. Yorkshire is a great example of that, which is reflected not only through the excellent businesses that call the region home but also the universities playing a prominent role in promoting women in technology."