Dr. Cathy Mulligan is an expert in digital technology and digital economy, known for her work in blockchain, telecommunications, and sustainable development. She has held various prestigious positions and contributed significantly to academic and industry sectors in these fields, holding multiple senior technology roles in industry and delivering millions of pounds of technology research within academia. She has been a fellow at the World Economic Forum for several years and was a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation in 2019. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is a visiting lecturer at Imperial College London.
Her work in digital has taken her to the North Pole as technical support for the Beringia 2005 expedition for climate change research, the foothills of the Himalayas for sustainable rural businesses, and Malaysia for climate protection, among many other places and projects across the U.K., EU, and Australia. She passionately believes in the ability of technology to create lasting, sustainable change – if we balance its unintended consequences and power disparities. She co-founded the Sustainable Society Digital Collective with the intention of ensuring the world discusses and proposes solutions for these unintended consequences.
Cathy Mulligan started coding when she was ten years old and immediately became a lifelong geek. Often the only female engineer in the room during her career, she has steadfastly looked the male-dominated technology sector in the eye and challenged it to transform into a more diverse and inclusive one. On some days, it appears to her, that she has even succeeded in that aim.