International Women’s Week – Introducing our Board of Directors

This week at The Scotland 5G Centre we are celebrating some of our Board Members

The theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘embracing equity’, celebrating women’s achievements while raising awareness about discrimination and acting to drive gender parity.

At The Scotland 5G Centre we are proud that over 50% of our Board Members are female, compared to the UK average of women’s board representation – across the FTSE 100 only around 39% of board members are women.

Demonstrating a major sea-change in attitudes and behaviours, there’s been huge improvements over the last 15 years. There are no longer any all-male boards in the FTSE 350 as of 2021, in comparison to 2015 where there was 15 and to 2011 when there was 152 within the FTSE 250 alone!

This week we celebrate how far we have come as a nation, reflecting on our achievements and considering how we can support women in the industry and work towards gender equality in the workplace.

Let us introduce you to some of our S5GC Board Members!

Fiona Smith, Non-Executive Director

1. Tell us about your career so far?

I’ve spent my career in airports, developing operational strategy and innovation initiatives in airports from Scotland to as far as New Zealand. I am currently responsible for setting the strategy for AGS Airports group in future air mobility and its impact on sustainable aviation, airspace design, air traffic and aircraft noise. I am also project Director of CAELUS, A £10m Innovate UK funded project, designing and demonstrating a national eco-system for drones serving NHS in Scotland.

2. As a member of the S5GC board, what’s the best thing about your role?

I passionately support the development of new technology and in particular that with sustainability benefit, both from an emissions reduction perspective and also from a socio-economic point of view. The potential for 5G and advanced connectivity is huge in sectors capable of making a real impact such as health, agriculture and transport. It’s exciting to play a role in support of the S5GC to potentially enable businesses to help accelerate that change.

3. What advice would you give to women considering taking on roles such as Director and Board Members?

It is easy to think that you don’t have the experience to be a Director or that a board role is for someone already operating at Exec level but this isn’t always the case. Look to your existing experience – how many committees have you held an active role or even chaired? Do you feel comfortable giving challenge on a topic you feel passionately about? This is all fantastic grounding for a Director role. You can offer much more than you think and we all have to start somewhere – so take the leap! There are plenty of good resources online and I found Women on Boards to be really helpful at the start. There are some great resources for women in STEM out there.

4. At your level what actions do you take to work towards gender equality in the industry?

The aviation industry has made great progress in recent years but even so, 40% of women in my industry still say there is a lack of opportunity for advancement so there is still a long way to go. Having visible and publicly recognised female role models at each level of the organisation is critical to progression so I make myself visible wherever I can, no matter how uncomfortable that can sometimes feel! I am also a true advocate of mentoring and have been both mentor and mentee on the ALTA mentoring scheme for women in aviation. I champion gender equality in AGS and try to shine a light on talent in our organisation whenever possible.

5. Fun Fact: What is your favourite piece of technology?

As Project Director for CAELUS, I believe that drones have a significant role to play in sustainability as a tool to reduce social inequality, particularly around health care. We partner with NHS Scotland to understand and demonstrate medical use cases across urban, rural and remote communities across Scotland. Drones will absolutely play a vital role in all of our everyday lives in the future.

Olga Kozlova, Board Member

1. Tell us about your career so far?

I am the Director of Innovation and Industry Engagement at the University of Strathclyde where I lead entrepreneurship and investment functions, industrial engagement and the development of the Technology and Innovation Centre Zone within the Glasgow City Innovation District.

Before moving to Strathclyde, I was the founder and director of Converge Challenge – the leading company creation programme aimed at students, graduates and staff of all nineteen Scottish Universities. I started my career as a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellow, before moving on to become a founder and a CEO in a biotechnology start-up company and afterwards working in business development and knowledge exchange in life sciences sector.

2. As a member of the S5GC board, what’s the best thing about your role?

Being a member of S5GC Board has been really interesting as the Centre works with SMEs across all sectors and different regions of Scotland. It’s exciting to see so many different applications of 5G technology to businesses and also, I love the fact that 5G is so much more than just about your mobile signal.

3. What is the most important leadership skill?

For me, the most important leadership skill is being able to build partnerships. Collaboration, whether it is within one organisation or across many different ones-is the force that brings true successes. Helping people to unite behind one vision and then achieving it-this is what transformational leadership is about.

4. How can we encourage more women into the technology sector?

I do believe that education and role models play a key part in bringing more women into technology. Girls should be taught at school that having a successful and rewarding career in technology is just as appropriate as becoming a teacher or a doctor. And they also should be able to meet role models from different stages of a career journey during their studies in schools, colleges and universities.

5. Fun Fact: What is your favourite piece of technology?

My iPhone – it has my life in it!

Sarah Eynon, Board Member

1. Tell us about your career so far?

I trained as a lawyer and enjoyed the varied nature of the role but wanted to be involved more in the end to end process of identification, design and delivery of projects and programmes. I initially transferred my skills to digital as the commercial director in a national broadband roll out programme giving me my first exposure to the opportunity and challenges of digital connectivity in Scotland. Since then I have worked to bring people together via projects and programmes to overcome these challenges and promote digital infrastructure as a key enabler.

2. As a member of the S5GC board, what’s the best thing about your role?

I enjoy contributing to an organisation that enables change by bringing together innovators from across Scotland. We could all do it independently, but that is not where the impact lies.

3. What are your thoughts about digital innovation and its potential for Scotland economy?

It is no longer about just ‘doing technology’, it is about identifying a problem or an opportunity and then examining how technology can help you solve that issue or excel in that market. There are so many new technical options available together with changes in regulation and legislation that will unlock the digital divide for Scotland. Digital innovation is the under recognised enabler in every impactful project in Scotland.

4. Do you have a role model in the industry?

Ceren Clulow, formerly of Nottinghamshire County Council and now at Cambridgeshire County Council is a tireless and passionate advocate for her region and the benefits of digital connectivity. She is always happy to share her experiences to help others on the digital journey and really takes an inclusive approach into her projects. She exudes a can-do approach and galvanises the stakeholders that she works with. I try to take some of that approach into my own work.

5. Fun Fact: What is your favourite piece of technology?

Anything that lets me listen to podcasts. I love that moment to yourself regardless where you are, and listening to the randomness of the This American Life podcast.

We are definitely lucky here at the S5GC to have such strong, female leaders and we hope their examples, careers and achievements can inspire other women considering applying for these type of roles.

Follow our social media channels (Twitter & LinkedIn) during this week to find out more about the women at the S5GC and sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about our events, articles and job vacancies!