Today, March 8, marks International Women’s Day (IWD) a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

International Women’s Day is also an acknowledgement of women’s role in the ongoing pursuit of worldwide equality.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has occurred for well over a century. The first IWD gathering in 1911 was supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.

In 2020, the theme for IWD is #EachForEqual. The theme encourages a number of MISSIONS to help forge a gender equal world, including:

• championing women forging tech innovation
• applaud quality for women athletes
• forge inclusive workplaces so women thrive
• support women to earn on their own terms
• empower women through health education
• increase visibility for women creatives

As a force for showcasing innovation that lives here in WA, today we celebrate our women innovators and those in the background who make INCITE Awards happen year after year.

Dr Josephine Muir & Dr Mary Webberley

Noisy Guts was a 2019 INCITE Awards for Most Innovative Enabler in Health Care.

Dr Josephine Muir and Dr Mary Webberley co-founded Noisy Guts – an AI based innovation to help detect gut disorders in a non intrusive manner.

Since winning at INCITE, Drs Muir and Webberley went on to win an iAward, the ACS Digital Disruptor Award and $1 million funding from the Federal Government Biomedical Grant.

Find out more. 

Kira Molloy

When 19-year old science and computing undergraduate Kira Molloy undertook a work placement this summer, little did she know she would be winning the Peter Fillery Best Undergraduate Tertiary Student Project of the Year Award, whilst also playing an important role in advancing cancer research.

Kira’s award-winning computer program is now used to more efficiently identify tumours in patients and also significantly reduce the re-excision rate in breast conserving surgeries.

Following her INCITE win, Kira won a place in the New Colombo Plan Scholarship – giving her internships at the Genome Institute of Singapore and Google Singapore.

Read more 

Natasha Ogonowski

Natasha Ogonowski is a Project Manager with Water Corporation’s innovative H20ME program. The project focuses on using big data, cloud computing and predictive analytics.

The analytics from H20ME turns water demand data into actionable insights. From the insights the Water Corporation will explore alternative urban growth features in Perth.

H20ME was a winner in the 29th INCITE Award for the category of Most Effective Government Solution. The innovative program was also a national iAwards finalist.

Learn more

Sue Findlay

Sue has been Chair of the INCITE Awards for over 16 years, having taken on the position back in 2003. A major force in making the Awards happen year on year, Sue works in the background managing the Awards Committee, advocating for innovators in WA, negotiating partnerships, creating new opportunities and much more.

Outside of the INCITE Awards, Sue is co-Director of Ninja Software – a Perth software development company and Managing Director of BidBuddy – a tender solutions company.

Connect with Sue

Celia Jordaan

Since 2917, Celia is the Chief Judge of the INCITE Awards. Behind the scenes, Celia plays a crucial role in identifying and inviting Guest Judges to be part of the Awards. She also makes sure that a high quality level of judging year on year is conducted with integrity, efficiency and attention to detail.

Outside of the INCITE Awards, Celia runs Ichiban Commercial Solutions, focused on Indigenous procurement services, government tenders, building business capability.

Connect with Celia

There are many many more women in WA progressing tech innovation – She Codes, WiTWA – are just some of the leaders in this field.

Let’s continue to support and celebrate the role of all innovators in our State!