Photographer: Carly Wollaert ©
Make-up artist: Sharmila Vooren
Women in AI
“Women in AI is a community-driven initiative bringing empowerment, knowledge and active collaboration via education, research, events, and blogging. Women in AI started because we believe in the power of community to reduce the gender gap in the AI industry. We wanted to create a safe and inspiring place where role models and young women will meet and build together the foundations of fair and inclusive use of AI. We joined this campaign because the reality is that there are a lot of women that are experts in AI and Tech, but they are not as visible as their male peers. For us, this campaign helps us put the light on those women who are experts and excelling in the AI sector. The women in our campaign have been nominated by our community for the amazing work they do and selected by a jury of AI experts. We feel this campaign helps create an environment where women own the stage and our candidates can present their inspiring ideas.”
Isabel Barberá
Responsible AI Leader of Women in AI Netherlands
About
“I was born in Spain, in the beautiful city of Cartagena. I moved almost 20 years ago to The Netherlands where I worked as a consultant for different companies such as IBM, before starting my own company (BitnessWise) in 2016, which was focused on Cybersecurity and Privacy.
I now work as a Privacy by Design and Responsible AI advisor for different organisations in the private and public sectors. I help with the translation of legal, ethical and business requirements into technical features, and expanding this into the rest of the organisation because a responsible solution requires a responsible ecosystem.
I am also an independent researcher. During the last three years, I have been doing research on Privacy Threat Modeling for AI which is a technique used for identifying risks. As a result of my research, I published in 2022 PLOT4AI, an open-source AI risk assessment tool containing a library of 86 AI risks and mitigation recommendations.
I’ve always been an autodidact, creative and very curious about how things work. That is why over the years I got involved in the field of Cybersecurity. I also have a strong moral sense, which is why I’m also a passionate defender of human rights. I want technology to be created responsibly and for that reason moving into Privacy and Data Protection was a natural step for me to take. In the summer of 2022, I co-founded with my partner our new company called Rhite where we focus on Privacy by Design and Responsible AI.”
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“Not sure if I would like to do that because like with AI, altering my past data could have effects on my future me! Jokes aside, I would probably tell myself that there is nothing wrong in sometimes being a bit less stubborn and letting others help you.”