Digital woman, girls of the year named at ICT2013
The winners of Europe’s first-ever Digital Woman Awards have been announced.
The announcement was made at the ICT2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Sasha Bezuhanova, Lune Victoria van Eewijk, Amy Mather and HTW–Berlin, were recognised for their leadership, entrepreneurship and creativity in digital areas of study and work, and for their demonstrated commitment to increasing the number of girls and women in ICT studies and careers in Europe. The awards are under the patronage of European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes and organised by Zen Digital as part of their support of the EU Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs.
Kroes said “Tomorrow’s world will be led by digital technology, and having digital skills will unlock a goldmine of opportunities. Yet traditionally women are not attracted to digital jobs. That is why I am so happy to congratulate these talented women and girls who have achieved great things in ICT and I hope they go on to inspire more women to explore the digital sector.”
A recent study for the European Commission revealed that bringing more women into the EU digital sector would bring €9bn annual GDP boost. However, currently 7 million people work in the ICT sector in Europe, and only 30% are women. The Commission is committed to attracting more women into the ICT workforce and into STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths)-based studies and careers.
