About the event
Hvatningardagur/
Vertonet Inspiration Day
Gamlabíó
5. maí 2026
Vertonet Inspiration Day is our biggest annual event—bringing together voices from the tech industry in a space built on inclusion, equality, and community. It’s a day to connect, get inspired, and imagine what’s next for tech in Iceland.
We are coming together at Vertonet Hvatningardagur 2026 to talk about what it means to navigate the evolving world of technology with courage and clarity. How do we carve our own paths while lifting others along the way? And what does thriving in tech truly look like today?
Be inspired by professionals who have faced barriers, embraced change, and led with vision- redefining what leadership in tech can be.
Join us for a day of stories, strategy, and solidarity as we build confidence, community, and the future of IT in Iceland, together.
Vertonet welcomes all women and non-binaries in tech. Men are warmly welcomed too—we value and encourage their presence as allies.
Meet The Speakers
Anna C W de Matos
CEO - Circular Library Network
Anna C W de Matos is the CEO and Founder of the Circular Library Network (CLN) and the Munasafn RVK Tool Library in Reykjavík. With a background in conservation and restoration, Anna is passionate about practical circular solutions that empower communities. Since launching Iceland’s first tool-sharing library in 2018, she has grown CLN into a scalable platform that combines modular hardware, smart tech, and a peer-to-peer community to support shared-use initiatives around the world. Anna is a recognized voice in circular innovation, committed to making sustainability accessible, collaborative, and impactful.
Anna Kristín Hálfdánardóttir
Software Engineer - Gangverk
Anna Kristín is a software engineer at Gangverk, a software consultancy based in Reykjavík. With experience spanning luxury retail to healthcare, she holds a BSc in Software Engineering from the University of Iceland and an MSc in Human-Centered AI from DTU in Denmark.
Her career has taken her across frontend, backend, databases, infrastructure, sales - and everything in between. Known for saying "I'll do it" before fully knowing what "it" involves, she thrives on jumping into new challenges.
Outside her main role, Anna Kristín teaches BSc final projects in software engineering at Reykjavík University and builds hobby projects ranging from analyzing Icelandic parliament voting patterns with graph databases to stock market analysis.
Nataliia Baburina
CEO - Sense & Action ehf
Executive & Leadership Coach
Nataliia Baburina is an Executive and Leadership Coach (PCC, ICF), team coach, and facilitator from Ukraine, currently building her life and work in Iceland under humanitarian protection. She is the founder of Sense & Action ehf, a practice built around a simple idea: in uncertainty, you don't wait for clarity - you make sense of where you are and take the next step.
Nataliia works with individuals and teams navigating transitions, building something new, or rethinking their direction. She helps them turn uncertainty into movement by focusing on what's available and creating momentum without waiting for perfect conditions.
Her approach is shaped by her own experience - relocating to Iceland with her child in 2022, going through layoffs, career shifts, and starting over in a new country. She chose to act without guarantees and build something new along the way. Because in uncertain environments, clarity doesn't come before action. It emerges from it.
Ingunn Róbertsdóttir
Digital Product Designer -Leviosa
Ingunn is a digital product designer with about eight years of experience. She currently works at a small startup in Reykjavík, where she's the only designer on an otherwise very developer-shaped team.
A few years ago, Ingunn burned out at a job. The years that followed were about learning how to breathe again - good people, unexpected places, and slowly starting to believe what others already saw in her. By the time she got to where she is now, she has a much clearer sense of who she is, and what she is not willing to give up again.
When she's not staring at Figma, Ingunn makes ceramics and seeks out pools of water. She often sings - badly on some days and beautifully on others. She collects art and strange objects from places she's been, and is generally more interested in the honest version of people's career stories than the polished one.
Emiliya Ivanova-Nikolova
Founder & CEO, Funding Expert -Íslandsdóttir.is
Emiliya Ivanova-Nikolova is the Co-founder and CEO of Íslandsdóttir ehf., where she advises startups and innovation-driven companies in Iceland on funding strategy, business development, and how to present ideas in a clear and credible way. She helps founders turn strong ideas into fundable cases and make better decisions around growth, grants, and investor readiness.
With over 25 years of experience spanning law, business advisory, public institutions, and international funding, Emiliya holds two Master's degrees - in International Law from Sofia University and International Business from the Academy of Economy in Bulgaria. Before Iceland, she held senior legal roles in Bulgaria, including at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Since moving to Iceland in 2014, she has worked closely with founders, SMEs, and innovation teams, focusing on Icelandic development funds and European programs. She is also active in mentoring networks, including the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs and the Association of Business Women in Iceland (FKA).
Jordanne Given
Senior Systems Engineer - Maritime Director-MSRS
Radar specialist with 9 years of experience in surveillance radar systems, specializing in mission system development and radar integration. Having worked with clients in the UK, US, Europe and Asia. With 2,000+ hours of radar operator experience.
Oktavía Hrund Guðrúnar Jóns
Founder, Future 404
Oktavía is our moderator for the conference.