And today, April 25, we celebrate Girls in ICT Day. It is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of every April and it is an initiative started by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that aims to empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the sector of technology.
The purpose of the day is to inspire action and identify workable solutions at the European and global level that would address the issue of the female leaking pipeline in ICT training and careers.
This year the European Commission, the European Parliament and the ITU are joining forces to ensure the maximum visibility for advancing the cause of getting more women into technology.
A discussion of the European-level agenda for advancing the cause of "Women in ICT" during the parliamentary hearing will have two angles:
- Professional women in ICT careers
Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner in charge of Digital Agenda, and the ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré will deliver statements on girls and women in ICT during the hearing.
The girls will imagine they wake up on 25 April 2050, in a digital world and see the news. What are the "headlines"? What does the world look like?
The girls will work in groups and come up with and present a news bulletin. They will then identify necessary milestones from today to 2050 to make their news a reality.
The results of the session will feed back to Futurium and the participants will have the opportunity to further shape their Futures online.
Education:
This activity can be done at school. Girls and teachers may interact on this interesting brainstorming event.
Share examples of innovative solutions which aim at getting more girls and women into ICT jobs!
Join the discussions on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter (#girlsdigital)
Level: Secondary; Vocational; Higher Education.
As part of the event, the European Parliament will host a debate on Women in ICT, dealing with women in ICT careers and with skills development.
- Key parts of the discussion will include:
- The stereotypical portrayal of girls and women in the media,
- Industry's responsibility for driving the change in the ICT sector,
- The business case for getting more women to work in ICT.
This is a way to raise visibility and build widespread support for women in ICT careers on a local, national, and global scale. And if you are doing something worthy at your level, Digital Agenda would like to know!
Watch the debate live via webstreaming, at 15.00 - 17.30 on 25 April. A final draft agenda is published here.
