Coral Wells has been named the most inspiring woman in Bermuda’s information communication technology sector.

The managing director of W&W Solutions Ltd won the title in a competition organised by the Department of E-Commerce as part of a drive to recognise females in the ICT sector.

The event was organised to coincide with the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Girls in ICT Day, which was marked last Thursday.

A statement from the Department of E-Commerce said there had been many nominations from the public and that Ms Wells was selected for her consistent efforts to boost ICT in both her personal and professional life.

“Ms Wells is active in numerous businesses and charitable endeavours that strive to expose Bermuda’s youth to ICT in meaningful ways,” the statement read. “Through her engagement in the ICT sector and in her community, she has been a true inspiration to girls interested in ICT.”

Ms Wells said: “I have always wanted to help the underrepresented. We have an amazing talent pool on our small island and our youth just need the tools to develop their skills in order to pursue their dreams and become the innovators we know they can become.

“I hope that I can inspire other girls to become as fascinated with ICT as I am, and to pursue careers in technology, helping women to continue to close the gender gap at the proverbial all-men boardroom table. We are making progress.”

Ms Wells has been the managing director and senior project manager of W&W Solutions Ltd, a software development and marketing company, for the past 15 years. She has been the programme manager for the Technology Leadership Forum since its inception in 2008. And in January this year, she was appointed as the executive director of the TLF.

In conjunction with the competition, the Department of E-Commerce ran a poster-colouring competition for primary schoolchildren and a video competition for secondary-school children.

The poster, created by caricaturist Cristina Capelo, featured six international women ICT leaders. The winners were: Rachel Hyland (Saltus), Sydney Mellor (Saltus), Leyla Ganal (Saltus), Esther Renée Smith (Victor Scott) and Mia Baccaglio (Mount St Agnes).

The winners of the video competition, which involved a 30-second clip involving girls and ICT, were David Saltus (Mount St Agnes), Mya Almeida and Ashlee Furtado (Mount St Agnes), and Kyra Kucharik and Kolby Martins (Mount St Agnes).

Marisa Stones, director of the Department of E-Commerce, said: “The aim of this event is to encourage, foster, and mentor our young women to consider ICT as a career path, to grow in the ICT industry, and to eventually take on leadership positions.”