In Kyiv, the Role of Women in the Field of Defense Technologies was Discussed
A discussion on the importance of women in the field of defense technologies was held at the RESTART technology conference in Kyiv. Leading Ukrainian businesswomen participated and shared their experiences and future plans.
The conference brought together Ukrainian innovators in the capital on October 24–25. The focus was on gender equality in the defense sector. Among the participants were leaders such as Olesya Dyachyshyn, CEO of LifeSaver SIM, Viktoria Yaremchuk from Farsight Vision, and Maria Berlinskaya, head of the Victory Drones project.
Moderator Valentina Dudko from MITS Capital noted that the tech sector has traditionally been considered a “closed men’s club,” but the percentage of women in this field is growing. According to statistics from the Ukrainian IT cluster, as of August last year, 40% of specialists in Ukraine’s tech sector were women.
Despite the presence of the so-called “glass ceiling,” which hinders women’s career advancement, the participants emphasized positive changes taking place in the industry. Maria Berlinskaya pointed out that the full-scale war has contributed to breaking stereotypes and has provided a boost for social mobility.
The participants stressed the importance of female leadership in technology, citing Ada Lovelace, the first programmer, whose developments are still used by NATO forces. For the development of the sector, it is important to create accessible entry paths regardless of gender.
It was also discussed that women in the tech and defense sectors face increased scrutiny, described by Viktoria Yaremchuk as “living in a fishbowl.” However, examples of companies like LifeSaver SIM and Farsight Vision demonstrate that gender equality in the defense technology sector is becoming increasingly realistic.
Further plans were also announced at the conference: LifeSaver SIM plans to participate in the Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon, and Farsight Vision intends to implement new technologies in 3D defense planning. Maria Berlinskaya declared that she believes in changing the social software through education.
The RESTART conference was made possible thanks to the support of partners, including Molfar, PrivatBank, Oschadbank, book store Sense, idealers, Tvoie Kolo, S-PROF, Foundation Coffee Roasters, Škoda, Headway Inc, Everstar, CLUST, Megapolis+, Vizia, Morshynska, Gulliver, Bolt, Greendezeen, Kooperativ, Techosystem, DEV Challenge.
