Interview: Web Summit Qatar shines spotlight on women in tech, Chinese participation -- CEO

DOHA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Web Summit Qatar, which concluded this week, provided a platform for women in technology and drew participation from Chinese businesses and entrepreneurs, Web Summit CEO Katherine Maher told Xinhua, highlighting China's "significant investment" in advanced technologies.

"China has made a significant investment in foundational technologies like climate technology, AI machine learning, and drones," Maher said on the sidelines of the event.

"Clearly, the country has made a bet that this is going to be incredibly important to the future of its economic development and global positioning. I expect that we're only going to see more of that," she added.

Over 15,000 attendees from 118 countries gathered at the event, which Qatar aims to position as a key driver and catalyst for innovation in the region.

Asked about the participation of Chinese players, Maher highlighted the large presence of Chinese companies in the event. "I think that the proximity to China represents an opportunity as well."

"There's so much advanced research being done in China on fundamental technologies. We hope to only continue to grow that and showcase that," she said.

Talking about the role of women in the technology industries, Maher stressed that 37 percent of the event's attendees were women.

"About a third of our speakers on stage are women as well. We're very excited to continue to make that ratio more equitable. We'll be working to build out that community in the years to come," she said.

"Technology is such an incredible equalizer and this is a great way for women to get involved both in terms of learning essential skills to be a technologist or to start your own company and to helping shape the world," Maher noted.

Web Summit, one of the world's largest technology conferences, took place for the first time in the capital of the peninsular Arab country at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center from Feb. 26-29.