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DLI Update – March 2015

Spring has sprung at the Digital Leadership Institute and we have welcomed it with open arms–and the Brussels launch of Europe’s first-ever digital innovation centre for girls and women!

In addition to celebrating this great milestone, Ms. Rosanna Kurrer and Ms. Selma Franssen, the DLI g-Hive and inQube Community Managers, kicked off our first digital and entrepreneurship events for girls and women in the brand new DLI space.  The DLI team were also in Belgium, Germany and the US this month promoting girls and women in what we call “ESTEAM”: entrepreneuership, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Please read about our activities below and check out our calendar for more upcoming events and activities.

 

EP4 March – International Women’s Day at the European Parliament (Brussels):  In celebration of International Women’s Day 2015, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, moderated an all-day conference at the European Parliament on the “strategy for equality between women and men in Europe“.  Photos here.

 

iwd9 March – International Women’s Day – DLI Digital Innovation Centre Opening (Brussels): On 9 March in Brussels, DLI celebrated International Women’s Day by opening the very first digital innovation centre for girls and women in Europe. Please see coverage of this event here.

 

csw5911 March – Urban Digital Women High-level Roundtable – 59th Meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (New York): On 11 March in New York City, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, moderated a panel on “digitally empowering women for positive urban transformation” co-chaired by the cities of Brussels and Barcelona as an official side-event of the Beijing+20 and 59th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.  Photos here.

 

GSMA_logo17 March – GSMA Europe – Connected Women (Brussels): Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Executive Director, participated in a high-level roundtable on “accelerating the role of women in the digital economy” hosted by GSMA Europe, the regional organisation of the global association for GSM stakeholders.

 

 

adalsmall26 March – Ada Lovelace Conference (Berlin): In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lady Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer, DLI founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, moderated a best practices roundtable on “getting more girls and women into digital studies & careers” hosted at GE Garages Berlin. Several high-level women representatives of Berlin-based tech organisations spoke at the roundtable, and an animated discussion with the 40+ participants ensued. This was the second Ada Lovelace Conference hosted with General Electric. Read about the first one – blogged by European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip – here!

 

Thank you to all our supporters and friends for welcoming Spring 2015 and this exciting new stage of DLI activity with us!  We are looking forward to enjoying the coming months and to welcoming many more Springs with you in the years to come!

Be sure to visit our calendar and sign up the DLI Newsletter in order to keep up DLI events and activities!

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Europe's First Digital Innovation Centre for Girls and Women

On 9 March in Brussels, the Digital Leadership Institute and 150 of its closest friends and supporters celebrated International Women’s Day with the grand opening of DLI‘s Digital Innovation Centre for Girls & Women, a first of its kind in Europe!  This very special occasion was marked with fun, hands-on digital activities for all ages, a high-level roundtable with Brussels, Belgian and European stakeholders, and a reception for all in attendance.

IMG_3131To kick off the evening, DLI volunteers and partners took over the entire, new 100m2 space to give young and young-at-heart members of the DLI family a try at hands-on digital activities with the following themes:

  • 3D Design & Printing
  • Digital Music & DJing
  • Bits, Bytes & Machine Code
  • Silly Robot Missions
  • Play Your Musical Fruit

In particular, the Bits, Bytes & Machine Code activity – a card game for all ages designed by Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Digital Literacy Lead and g-Hive Community Manager – was a popular (and loud) crowd favorite.  It required players to calculate in bits and bytes, and showcased the digital natives in the group, who nimbly trounced their analog ancestors to much vocal lamenting.dli launch ribbon

The Digital Activity Stations then gave way to an official DLI Opening Ceremony graced with a beautiful video message from Ms. Bianca Debaets, State Secretary of the Brussels Capital Region for Equal Opportunity and ICT, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony officiated by Miss Manon Van Hoorebeke, 2014 European Digital Girl of the Year, and Ms. Esther Roure Vila, 2014 European Digital Woman of the Year.  chat

The evening’s activities were rounded out with a high-level discussion on the topic of “Women Driving Digital Innovation,” with unique and insightful interventions by the VIPs in attendance, all amazing role models for girls and women in technology:

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As a magical closing to an exciting evening, Ms. Pascale Van Damme, Managing Director of Dell Belgium & Luxembourg and 2014 “ICT Woman of the Year”, surprised the convened guests with dedication of forty Dell laptops to DLI saying “this is a contribution to help ensure the DLI Centre gets off on the right foot and is able to achieve its mission which we support very much.”

Thank you, Dell!  And thank you to all of our DLI community and supporters for such a wonderful and memorable DLI opening event!

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First-Ever Ada Lovelace Conference

On 10 December 2014 in Brussels, in honor of the 199th anniversary of the birth of Lady Ada Lovelace – world’s first-ever computer programmer, woman and European – the Digital Leadership Institute held the inaugural Ada Lovelace Conference celebrating outstanding girls and women in technology in Europe and beyond.  The event, blogged by new European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip responsible for the Digital Single Market, was generously hosted by General Electric as part of the GE Garages initiative.  It included a high-level best practices round-table on “getting more girls and women into digital studies and careers,” and three hands-on digital workshops – on 3D design & printing, creative coding & “beautiful/electric Arduinos” – for girls ages six to sixteen.  The event enjoyed participation by over one hundred people, and was part of the 2014 European Hour of Code.

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Supporting Girls in ICT Day

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International Girls in ICT Day is being celebrated around the world this year on 24 April 2014. The Digital Leadership Institute will join in the festivities by organising two Digital Muse workshops in Brussels and Geneva, and DLI founder, Cheryl Miller, will contribute to an expert panel on “Celebrating Successes, Inspiring Girls” at the UN International Telecom Union‘s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 15 April.  To join the Geneva event live, please click here.

Looking for a way to celebrate Girls in ICT Day 2014?  Please consult the ITU’s Girls in ICT Day portal to find resources for organising your own event and to learn about activities being organised in your area.  UN Women is also promoting Girls in ICT Day around the world.  And if you would like to do something simple and effective to get more girls into tech, please consider contributing your own 1-minute video to the European Commission’s #Passion4Tech campaign via their  “Every Girl Digital” Facebook page.

As always, if you are an girl or woman working and studying in digital sectors, or part of an organisation promoting more girls and women in tech, please consider nominating yourself or your organisation/project for a 2014 European Ada Award, deadline 16 September 2014!

Questions?  Please contact us!

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2014 European Ada Awards Launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_In96cjPJlA

Video care of the QUIDOS “Fascinating Stories” Series

Nominations for the 2014 European Ada Awards launched on 4 April 2014 in Athens, Greece, in the context of the “Women and Girls Go Digital!” event, co-organised by ECWT and celebrating the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Nominations for this year’s European Ada Awards – named after the first-ever computer programmer, Ada Lovelace, Lady Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace – are now being accepted in the following categories:

Deadline for submissions for the European Ada Awards is 16 September 2014 and winners in each category will be recognised at the Ada Awards Ceremony on 30 October 2014 in Rome, as part of the closing event for the 2014 eSkills for Jobs campaign. Please follow the noted links to find out more about each Award.

The international Ada Awards™ recognise outstanding girls and women in digital sectors globally and the organisations that support them. The European Ada Awards™, launched in 2013 by the Digital Leadership Institute (formerly Zen Digital Europe) and its partners – CEPIS, DIGITALEUROPE, ECWT and European SchoolNet – are an official pledge to the Grand Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs in Europe, and have the following objectives:

  • Increase the number of digitally-skilled girls and women in Europe;
  • Increase participation of girls and women in digitally-driven and digitally-enabled studies, enterprises and jobs;
  • Recognise outstanding women and girls in digitally-enabled and digitally-driven studies and careers; and
  • Showcase organisations who are increasing participation of girls and women, particularly in leadership roles, in digital sectors.


For questions or to become a partner or sponsor of the Ada Awards, please contact us.

© Digital Leadership Institute, asbl/vzw

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Digital Leadership Academy Launch

We are very excited to announce the launch of the Digital Leadership Academy, the very first initiative of the newly-formed Digital Leadership Institute!  In its first year, the DLA will carry out a year-long training program for future female digital leaders, starting on 23 April 2014 in Brussels, in celebration of International Girls in ICT Day!

Digital Leadership Academy
The Digital Leadership Academy aims to close the ICT skills gap and increase the number of female entrepreneurs and leaders in digital sectors in Europe and beyond, by delivering digital and leadership skills to young and career-age women. The DLA approach combines cross-generational mentoring and technical, business and leadership skills development with the goal of building a resilient community of female digital leaders, confident and prepared for long-term, fruitful careers in digital sectors.

The DLA approach is unique because:

  • Topics addressed meet a real need;
  • Content provides both theoretical background and practical experience; There is opportunity for self-reflection and interaction;
  • Motivation is stimulated; and
  • People have fun.

2014 Digital Leadership Series
In 2014, DLA will launch an inaugural Digital Leadership Series consisting of twelve seminars (two hours each) taking place from April to December in Brussels for a group of twenty teen- and career-age women. The series will be split between fun, hands-on, result-oriented workshops that deliver practical, creative, digital skills, and leadership and business seminars that address personal and professional skills for success.  All courses will be led by a team of DLA digital, business and leadership experts.

Practical
The 2014 Digital Leadership Series will be carried out from April to December* in Brussels. Places are available for individuals wishing to take part in the program and organisations wishing to sponsor young women or women in transition to participate in the series.

Please contact us if you would be interested in becoming a DLA 2014 candidate, if you would like to sponsor a participant in the DLA 2014 class, or if your organisation would like to support the Digital Leadership Academy!  More information about the 2014 Digital Leadership Series may be found here.

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Ada Award Nominations Open 4 April

On 4 April 2014, in honour of the Hellenic Presidency of the European Council,  nominations for the 2014 European Ada Awards will officially open in the context of the “Women & Girls Go Digital” event in Athens.  We look forward to a great turnout for the event and a record number of 2014 nominations for Digital Girl, Digital Woman, and Digital Impact Organisation of the Year in Europe.

The European Ada Awards are an initiative of the Digital Leadership Institute and its partners – CEPIS, DIGITALEUROPE, ECWT, and the European SchoolNet – that aims to recognise outstanding girls and women in digital sectors in Europe and organisations supporting them.

The European Ada Awards were launched as a five-year pledge to the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs and are part of the 2014 Eskills for Jobs campaign.  In 2013, Ms. Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, was personal patron of the Awards and presented prizes in the following categories to deserving girls, women and organisations in Europe:

An award for African Digital Woman of the Year was also presented in 2013.

Thank you to partners and sponsors of the European Ada Awards!

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Successful DLI Launch

Digital Leadership InstituteThe Digital Leadership Institute was successfully launched on 6 March 2014 at DIGITALEUROPE in Brussels, in honour of International Women’s Day 2014 and release of the Women2020 Action Plan.  The latter report, entitled “Time to Act,” is the outcome of a year’s work with the Women2020 platform – a DLI initiative launched on International Women’s Day 2013 – promoting women’s contribution to achieving the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

Please find photos of the event below, as well as a copy of the Women2020 Action Plan: “Time to Act”, which includes a cover-letter from European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and contains conclusions and recommendations taken directly from the five high-level Women2020 meetings carried out in 2013.

Feel free to contact us with any inquiries about DLI or the Women2020 initiative!

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Digital Leadership Institute, asbl/vzw

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Welcome!

Welcome to the homepage of the Digital Leadership Institute, a Brussels-based, international NGO whose mission is to bridge the gender gap and the digital divide by empowering the digital leaders of today and tomorrow.

© Copyright – Digital Leadership Institute, asbl/vzw