The Women in Data Science (WiDS) initiative aims to inspire and educate data scientists around the world regardless of gender, and to support women in the field of data. WiDS began as a one-day technical conference at Stanford in November 2015, and today it is a global movement that includes multiple initiatives around the world organized by WiDS Ambassadors.
When? Thursday, April 9, 2026 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Where? Manuel Martí Recober Assembly Hall at FIB, Barcelona School of Informatics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Building B6, ground floor, Campus Nord, C. Jordi Girona 1-3. BCN 08028 (location here)
Format: In-person event with recording and later publication as a webinar
Registration: Free and open
Program
17:30 – 17:35 Welcome
Ariadna Llorens, Vice-Rector for Social Commitment and Equality, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Anna Rio Doval, Dean of the Barcelona School of Informatics
Lídia Montero, Vice-Dean and Head of Studies at the Barcelona School of Informatics. Associate Professor of Statistics and Operations Research, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Karina Gibert & Núria Castell, WiDS-Barcelona 2026 ambassadors
17:35 – 18:00 Presentation: The CETRA-TDIA Decalogue
Karina Gibert, Dean of COEINF, Professor of AI and Data Science at UPC, and WiDS-Barcelona 2026 ambassador
18:00 – 19:15 Panel “Intelligent Public Services”
Moderator: Núria Castell, Former Dean of FIB, Vice-Dean of Presidency at COEINF, and WiDS Ambassador 2026
Panelists:
- Alícia Coca, Head of Business Technologies at Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
- Laura Sunyol, Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation at Mataró City Council
- Sònia Cañizares, Director of the Public Sector, Health and Logistics Division for Catalonia at SOPRA STERIA
- Maite Sainz, ICT Director of the Department of the Presidency, Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informació
19:15 – 19:30 Closing
Esther Manzano, Director General for Digital Administration
Networking dinner in the garden of the Vèrtex building
In-person event held in Catalan on April 9, 2026.
Watch the video of WiDS Barcelona 2026
Women of WiDS 2026
* Press the volume button on the flipbook to disable sound
On International Girls in ICT Day, April 23, 2026, it will be released as a webinar with all videos subtitled in English.
Previous editions of WiDS-Barcelona
- I WiDS-Barcelona 2021
- II WiDS-Barcelona 2022
- III WiDS-Barcelona 2023
- IV WiDS-Barcelona 2024
- V WiDS-Barcelona 2025
WiDS provides female role models
Find the women of WiDS-Barcelona 2021 here
Find the women of WiDS-Barcelona 2022 here
Find the women of WiDS-Barcelona 2023 here
Find the women of WiDS-Barcelona 2024 here
Find the women of WiDS-Barcelona 2025 here
Announcement
April 23, 2026 is International Girls in ICT Day. WiDS-Barcelona 2026 will stream a webinar that will be available internationally on this website.
Organization of WiDS-Barcelona 2026
WiDS-Barcelona 2026 Ambassadors
Karina Gibert i Oliveras
Professor and co-founder of the Research Center in Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Data Science (IDEAI-UPC) & Dean of the Official College of Computer Engineering of Catalonia (COEINF)
Núria Castell Ariño
Former Dean of the Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB-UPC) & Vice-Dean of Presidency of the Official College of Computer Engineering of Catalonia (COEINF)
Organizing Committee
- Àngela Nebot, IDEAI-UPC
- Mònica Sànchez, IDEAI-UPC
- Sergi Ramírez, IDEAI-UPC
- Kevin Sànchez, IDEAI-UPC
- Xavier Angerri, IDEAI-UPC
- Beatriz Sevilla Villanueva, IDEAI-UPC
- Víctor Egea, IDEAI-UPC
- Maria Eugenia Cardello, Top Rosies Talent net
Sponsored by
Would you like to sponsor WiDS-Barcelona 2026? Contact us at karina.gibert@upc.edu or beatriz.sevilla@upc.edu
WiDS-Barcelona 2026 is independently organized by Karina Gibert and Núria Castell-Ariño as part of the mission of the WiDS Worldwide movement to increase women’s participation in data science and to showcase outstanding women doing exceptional work.