Women in AI (WAI) is a global network of female experts and professionals in the field of Artificial Intelligence working towards gender-inclusive AI that benefits a global society. WAI's mission is to close the gender gap in the field by educating the next generation of female leaders in AI and to increase female representation and participation in AI. Committed to supporting and rewarding excellence to women in AI, the WAI Awards 2021 will be prestigious in their recognition and vital in building the credibility and exposure for women in AI in Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations to the Victorian finalists The WAI Awards finalists have been announced with 9 Victorian women across 8 categories and all the best for the finals. Each of the 11 awards categories have judging criteria based on innovation, leadership and inspiring potential, global potential and impact, and ability for the AI solution to do good for the community and citizens. AI in Mining - Angela Rodrigues, PhD Candidate, Monash University School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment AI in Law - Dr Kobi Leins, Senior Research Fellow in Digital Ethics, Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Melbourne AI in Health - Dr Rahil Garnavi, Senior Technical Staff Member, Master Inventor, IBM Research AI in Finance - Dr Wen Chen (Monica), Research Scientist, CSIRO’s Data61 AI in Finance - Dr Catherine Lopes, Founder & Director, Opsdo Analytics and Head of Data Strategy & Analytics | ME Bank AI in Agribusiness - Supriya Nair, Director, OutofBox Solutions AI in Cyber Security - Dr Sarah Erfani, Senior Lecturer, School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne AI in Infrastructure - Bonnie Shaw, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Place Intelligence AI in Innovation - Yolande Strengers, Associate Professor Digital Technology and Society, Emerging Technologies Research Lab, Faculty of IT, Monash University The winner from each Award category will be entered into judging for the ... Grand Award: 'Australia - New Zealand WAI Innovator of the Year'. All category finalists and winners will benefit from endorsement, prestige, recognition, opportunities for collaboration, and extensive media exposure. The Grand Award Winner and both runners-up will also benefit from a cash prize, and one-on-one meetings with industry, academic and government leaders, and venture capitalists. A spectacular invite-only WAI Awards Gala Dinner will be held in Sydney on 26 March 2021 to announce the winners and the finalists, and to honour and recognise Australian and New Zealand women in AI. The Victorian Government is proud to support the 2021 Women in AI Awards and wishes all finalists all the very best. Find out more about Women in AI here >>