Nominations are open until October 1 for the 8th edition of the Portuguese Women in Tech (PWIT) Awards, an annual event celebrating women shaping Portugal’s technology ecosystem and Portuguese women making an impact abroad.
Eligible nominees are women working in the Portuguese tech scene or Portuguese women pursuing their careers internationally. They cannot be judges, members of the PWIT organizing team, or employees of companies sponsoring the specific category in which they are nominated.
Anyone can submit a nomination – including self-nominations – through the official form on the PWIT website. One nomination per email address is allowed.
A shortlist of five nominees per category will be announced on October 6. Short-listed candidates will be required to accept the official terms and may be asked to provide documents verifying eligibility. A jury will then evaluate them based on CVs, professional records, achievements, and supporting evidence.
The finalists – three nominees in each category – will be announced on October 27. The awards will culminate in an in-person ceremony in Lisbon on November 8.
Award categories
This year’s awards will recognize excellence across ten categories:
- Best Engineer in Portugal (powered by Dashlane)
- Best Business Operations & Innovation Expert (powered by Rumos)
- Best Product Manager (powered by Constellation Tech Hub)
- Best Data, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Expert (powered by NTT Data)
- Best Revenue, Growth, Marketing & Sales Expert (powered by Bosch)
- Best Tech Consulting Expert (powered by Devoteam)
- Best People, Culture & Talent Acquisition Expert (powered by Neotalent Conclusion)
- Best Digital Transformation Lead (powered by PwC)
- Best Community Lead (powered by Doutor Finanças)
- Best Customer Experience Expert (powered by FES Agency)
A platform for women in tech
The awards are part of the PWIT platform, founded in April 2016 by Liliana Castro and Inês Santos Silva. The organization’s dual mission is to support women already working in technology through visibility, mentorship, training and opportunities, and to encourage more girls and women to consider tech careers, thereby increasing the pipeline of female talent.
Over the years PWIT has published stories of women in tech and startups, organized workshops, run the PWIT Hackathon, and distributed educational booklets in schools with partners like ScaleUp Porto and EDP.
It has also launched mentorship programs, a book club, and a female founders program, and developed tools and resources such as Speakers List, Salary Transparency Project, Pioneers Report, and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Playbook.
Why this matters
In 2024, the number of women working in Portugal’s ICT sector reached 59,600 – an increase of more than 13,000 from the previous year. Women now represent 22.7% of the ICT workforce, up from 20.2% in 2023, with men accounting for 77.3%.
In the startup sector, just 14% of over 4,000 Portuguese startups are founded or led by women. Meanwhile, venture capital investment across Europe in 2024 (~€48 billion) saw only 12% of that funding go to companies founded by women.
At the EU level, women fill only around 19.5% of ICT specialist roles, with men holding about 80.5%.
These figures highlight the imbalance that PWIT aims to address through its programs and long-term vision. According to the founders, the goal is not only to increase participation but also to change perceptions of who can be a developer, a leader, or an entrepreneur in the technology sector.
They emphasize that meaningful change requires collective effort, with women and men, companies, governments, and individuals all taking concrete action to challenge stereotypes and remove barriers. In their view, advancing women’s equality is not only a matter of fairness but also a driver of global economic growth.
Featured image: PWIT co-founders Inês Santos Silva (left) and Liliana Castro say their vision is to challenge stereotypes in technology and create pathways for women to lead, build, and innovate. (Photo courtesy of PWIT)
Portugal Startup News 