Speaker Bio

As Global Market Affairs & Community Engagement Director for IEEE SA, Ms. Patterson oversees key initiatives related to digital inclusion and identity, digital resilience, data governance, and children’s online/offline experiences. She also manages strategic initiatives and engagements in Europe and Africa, including institutional relationships and capacity building activities. In her role, Ms. Patterson has facilitated dialogue among different stakeholders (industry, government, academia, and civil society) on Energy and ICT technologies and the intersection of technology and policy and worked in multi-stakeholder environments across various technical domains and industry sectors. By promoting standards’ potential to support sustainable development and greater inclusion, Ms. Patterson contributes to IEEE’s mission of advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Ms. Patterson has recently moderated panels at the Tallinn Digital Summit on AI and Healthcare (September 2019), at the ISO General Assembly on Standardization and SDG 7 – Energy (September 2018) and served as a panelist at the Open Government Partnership Summit in Ottawa (May 2019).

The IEEE-SA is a globally recognized standards-setting body that develops consensus standards through an open process that engages industry and brings together a broad stakeholder community. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of over 1,250 active standards and more than 650 standards under development.

Ms. Patterson holds a B.A. in Political Science (Comparative Politics) from Western Washington University (USA) and an M.A. in Political Science (Comparative Politics, Developing Countries) from McGill University (Canada).