BARONESS SHIELDS OBE (Joanna Shields) is a leading technology industry executive, entrepreneur and public servant, currently serving as UK Minister for Internet Safety and Security in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Baroness Shields spent over 25 years building some of the world's best-known technology companies, including Electronics for Imaging, RealNetworks, Google, Aol and Facebook, as well as leading several start-ups to successful acquisitions, including Bebo, Decru and Veon. She was most recently Digital Adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, Chairman of Tech City UK and non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange Group. Prior to that, she was Vice President and Managing Director of Facebook in Europe, Middle East and Africa and oversaw the growth of the platform to over 1 billion users. She has also served as President of People Networks at Aol, a position she assumed after leading acquisition of Bebo by Time Warner's Aol unit for $850 million; and as a Managing Director for Google Europe, Russia, Middle East & Africa.

In July 2013 Computer Weekly named Baroness Shields The Most Influential Woman in the UK IT industry. She was No. 1 in Wired Magazine's 2011 most important people in the digital world. In 2014 she was recognized in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours with the Order of the British Empire for services to the digital industries and for her voluntary service to young people.