This year marks the 15th time Computer Weekly is putting together its list of the 50 Most Influential Women in UK Technology, and voting is now open to give readers an opportunity to express who they feel deserves the top spot.
Launched in 2012, the top 50 list aims to make role models in the tech sector more visible and accessible, in the hope that doing so will encourage more women and underrepresented groups to consider a role in the industry, and eventually lead to a more diverse and inclusive technology sector.
This year’s longlist, featuring more than 850 women, was assessed by a group of expert judges to choose the shortlisted 50 below.
The winner of this year’s “most influential woman in UK tech” accolade will be announced at an event in London in October, planned in partnership with recruitment specialist Harvey Nash.
Alongside the top 50, each year, the judges choose several women for the Computer Weekly Women in Tech Hall of Fame to recognise their lifetime achievements and ongoing contributions to the technology sector. This year’s additions are:
Computer Weekly readers can now vote for the person they consider to be the most influential woman in UK technology in 2026.
Click on your choice below and then on the “submit” button (or the arrow button on mobile) at the end of the list, and your vote will be registered. Note that the list appears in randomised order.
Voting closes at midnight on 21 September 2026.
Editor’s note: The final list of the Most Influential Women in UK Tech will be chosen by combining the decision of the judging panel with the votes of our readers. The combined reader vote will carry the same weight as that of one judge, and will provide the UK IT professional input into the order of the list. The editor’s decision on the list will be final.
The shortlisted 50 (in alphabetical order) are as follows:
As well as her work as senior EUC engineer, infrastructure and cloud engineering at the London Stock Exchange Group, Akua Opong is a freelancer and science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) advisor.
Until last year, she was part of the City of London Corporation volunteer advisory group for equality, diversity and inclusion, and was previously an advisory board member for Neurodiversity in Business, and a mentor at the TechUp mentor programme for Durham University.
Opong was a contributor for Voices in the shadows, the book of black female role models created by the 2022 Computer Weekly most influential woman in UK tech, Flavilla Fongang.
Currently, Opong is an award judge for WeAreTheCity, a volunteer for the Festival of The Girl, and until November 2025 was a role model and mentor for the STEMazing mentorship programme.
She spent two years as a non-executive director for Genius Within CIC.
