The head of CES, Gary Shapiro, has defended inviting Ivanka Trump to the prestigious annual electronics event.

Shapiro is scheduled to interview Trump during her keynote-branded speaking slot on Tuesday.

He told BBC News that Trump had done “great work” and said her talk would focus on “how industry is working with government” on “jobs of the future.”

Several prominent tech figures criticized the decision, with the tech analyst and entrepreneur Carolina Milanesi saying there were “many more women who are in tech and are entrepreneurs who could run circles around Trump on how technology will impact the future of work.”

CES did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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The head of the annual tech conference CES has defended inviting Ivanka Trump to give a keynote speech, citing her “great work.”

CES is the biggest industry event in tech, taking place in Los Angeles with almost 200,000 attendees.

Its chief, Gary Shapiro, has offered Trump one of the “keynote” speaking sessions at this week’s conference. CES, which stands for “consumer electronics show,” is one of the world’s most prestigious tech events.

Shapiro, who is scheduled to interview Trump for her keynote on Tuesday, told BBC News that he didn’t regret the decision, adding that “there’s a lot of focus on jobs of the future, and certainly the keynote that I’ll be doing with Ivanka Trump will be focusing on … how industry is working with government on this very important issue.”

He reportedly declined to say whether her appearance had been requested by CES or whether the White House had requested it.

The fact an invitation has been offered to Trump – whose job title on the CES website is listed as “Advisor to the President” – has caused a backlash in tech circles, with several figures citing Trump’s relative lack of qualifications.

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The tech analyst Carolina Milanesi described herself as “far from pleased” at the decision in an op-ed article published by Forbes.

This is dead on. Beyond the politics of the Trump administration – Ivanka is not a woman in tech. She’s not a CEO. She has no background. It’s a lazy attempt to emulate diversity – but like all emulation it’s not quite the real thing. https://t.co/MQdGysNQ96 — Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) January 5, 2020

“The reason is certainly not found in my political beliefs,” she wrote. “The reason for my upset is rooted in the fact that there are many more women who are in tech and are entrepreneurs who could run circles around Trump on how technology will impact the future of work.”

The video game developer Brianna Wu, who is running for US Congress as a Democrat in Massachusetts, was no less scathing. She wrote on Twitter: “Beyond the politics of the Trump administration – Ivanka is not a woman in tech. She’s not a CEO. She has no background. It’s a lazy attempt to emulate diversity – but like all emulation it’s not quite the real thing.”

And numerous women in the Women Who Tech group on Facebook expressed their dismay at CES’ decision. The investor Elisabeth Fullerton wrote: “This is an insult to women in technology, we did hard times in university, engineering, math, and applied sciences. This is what extreme privilege and entitlement get you. It’s not what you know it’s who you know I guess.”

Of the branded keynote speakers and moderators at the event, nine are men and eight are women (excluding staff from the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES).

CES did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.