TWO Winchester women have been nominated in this year’s FDM Technology Awards.

Jane Stockdill-Mander, WebSphere portfolio product manager for IBM UK Ltd, and Sadie Hawkins, executive assistant for IBM UK Ltd, are among four finalists in their individual categories.

Ms Stockdill-Mander has been nominated for Innovator of the Year and Ms Hawkins as Rising Star of the Year.

Sheila Flavell, chief operating officer and founder director of title sponsor FDM Group, said: “We are thrilled to be able to partner with everywoman once again and to support them in their mission to encourage more women into IT careers.

“FDM is fully committed to helping more women further their careers within this rewarding and creative industry and opening the pipeline for future talent.

“With an increasing need for IT skills throughout the UK across all sectors, it is vital that we make technology female-friendly and actively encourage women to pursue IT as a career path.”

Julian David, director general of Tech UK, said: “We are delighted to support the 2014 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards. One of the biggest challenges for the UK tech sector is attracting appropriately skilled employees. We need a greater representation of the working population to join UK tech companies and help support the continued growth of the sector.

“In particular, we need to work hard to attract smart, skilled women who are not currently attracted to the sector and communicate the career opportunities in tech that are open to all.

“Tech UK must remain focused on attracting great women to the sector, retaining them and helping them to flourish and succeed.”

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on March 19 at the Sheraton, Park Lane, in London.