Monique Morrow

Keynote Speaker

Monique Morrow's Biography

With over 25 years of experience as a global technology leader, Monique Morrow has established a proven track record of success in driving business growth and innovation through emerging technologies. She holds several industry advisory positions and most recently Venture Partner Sparklabs Accelerator for Cybersecurity and Blockchain, Wash D.C. Monique is also an Independent Director on the Hedera Hashgraph Board of Directors where she focuses on articulating Hedera enterprise value for the telecommunications industry.

In Monique’s previous role as Senior Distinguished Architect for emerging technologies at Syniverse Technologies, she provided thought leadership and developed the strategic direction and vision for Syniverse's emerging technologies across the company, partners and industry forum. Monique's expertise is in cybersecurity, privacy, mobile payments, ethics in extended reality and distributed ledger technologies, for example, blockchain. She has worked across the industry including AMD, Ascom Hasler, Swisscom and Cisco, andhas been active in the start-up community. Additionally, Monique is President and Co-Founder of the Humanized Internet a Swiss-based non-profit with a focus on digital identity, and ethics in technology. 

Monique’s industry leadership includes the following examples: Monique chairs the IEEE P.7030 Global Extended Reality Working Group, Recommended practice for the assessment of Extended Reality Technologies. She also Chairs IEEE P.7016, “Standard for Ethically Aligned Design and Operation of Metaverse Systems.” Monique was Co- Chair of the GSMA-Distributed Ledger Technology [DLT] group and served as Syniverse’s representative in the World Economic Forum [WEF] Data Policy Council and Digital Justice. Monique has contributed to the WEF-Wharton School Paper on the “Decentralized Autonomous Organization Toolkit.” She is active in WEF’s Digital Identity initiative. Monique recently contributed to the GSMA, Vodafone, IBM Chaired white paper entitled, “Post Quantum Telco Network Impact Assessment.” Monique has been recognized in the industry for her tireless focus on social good. She holds over 17 patents and has co-authored several books. 

Amongst Monique's accomplishments include the following: Monique was selected as one of the top Digital Shapers 2018 in Switzerland. Forbes Magazine listed Monique Morrow as one of the top 50 women globally in technology. OneWorldIdentity recognized Monique as one of the top 100 influencers in identity for 2019. In May 2019, Monique was recognized by Cybersecurity Ventures as one of the top 100 women in Cybersecurity. In March 2020, Monique was one of several innovators featured in Red Bull Innovator Magazine. 

In April 2020, Monique was selected as one of the 5 leading figures in Business by the Europa Forum Lucerne [Switzerland] specific to its theme, “Safety and Security in Times of Uncertainty.” Monique is also the 2020 winner of the WomenTech Network Global Technology Leadership award. Monique has been recognized in 2021 as one of the top 100 Women in Cybersecurity in Europe. Monique was named by Chief in Tech as one of the top 100 Women in Tech Leaders to watch in 2022.  Monique has an MSc in Digital Currency and Blockchain; an M.S. in Telecommunications and MBA. Monique is also a Doctoral Student in Cyberpsychology at Capitol Technology University.

KEYNOTES IN DETAIL

Advancing Women in Tech: A Look into How Far We’ve Come

While we still have a lot of work ahead of us to completely diminish the gender gap in STEM and increase the amount of women in the field, it’s important to notate the progress and celebrate the great strides forward in the past year so we can carry this momentum into 2022, and beyond.  As a woman who has devoted her professional career to STEM, I have seen first-hand the need for creating more opportunities, representation, and incentives to encourage more women and young girls to enter the field. This past year, we’ve taken important steps in the right direction. By building upon the framework of these forward-thinking initiatives and continuing to take tangible action to elicit change within our communities, we can continue to close the gender gap in STEM.

Privacy Isn’t Dead

(Description)For most organizations, data is at the center of business. This information helps drive strategy, allowing companies to meet consumer needs, respond to shifts in the market/consumer behavior, and react to unforeseen events effectively. As businesses continue collecting, storing, and sharing personal information, online privacy is a growing concern. According to a 2020 Consumer Privacy Survey conducted by CISCO, 89% of consumers say they care about data privacy. Even more, 29% of consumers said they have abandoned companies due to bad data practices.

These numbers don’t lie! It is apparent that privacy isn’t dead. In fact, it’s very much alive, and organizations must take the necessary steps to prioritize and protect consumers' data

Cybersecurity: A Global Responsibility

Though this has been a familiar and important topic in the tech world for many years, it is time we expand these conversations to all areas of life, globally. Cyber-attacks have been steadily increasing over the years as hackers become more sophisticated and trained. However, in recent times,  we have seen a large increase in attacks on critical infrastructure that have exposed and exploited vulnerabilities in several sectors of society. As we saw in the ransomware attack on the United States' Colonial Pipeline, these disruptions have devastating effects on humanity. The bad guys are getting better at what they do. However, I am hopeful that we can stop these threats before they start, with the proper education and game plan.

Extended Reality and Ethics: Coexistence in the Modern Era

Extended Reality or XR is the interaction between humans and machines generated by technology in which both virtual and physical environments are combined. The XR market has seen significant growth within the last few years. Kenneth Research estimates that the increase of the global GDP will in turn allow the XR market to continue to grow well into 2026. Extended reality has given humans the ability to expand their identity, knowledge, environment, and agency, but, as with any advancement, it also creates problems.  These issues stem from worries about data privacy, suppression, regulation, interactions, and psychological implications. Many of these issues boil down into one, vulnerability. Extended reality and the ethical consumption of it can coexist if it is created and regulated with the vulnerable in mind.