Tag: European Commission

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Join Europe's Largest Women in Tech Event Ever

On 25-26 April in Brussels, in honour of 2016 International Girls in ICT Day, the Digital Leadership Institute is proud to partner with the European Centre for Women and Technology and others to organise the very first European Celebration of Women in Computing, Europe’s largest #WomenInTech event ever!  ECWC16 will take place at the Proximus Lounge in Brussels, and aims to bring together industry practitioners, policy-makers, digital society decision-makers and young and experienced women pursuing studies and careers in digital fields.

Digital Leadership:  As official partner to ECWC16, DLI will deliver several elements of the event, including:

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Digital Luminaries: With keynote presentations by global luminaries of digital transformation — including Ms. Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General, Mr. Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice President responsible for the Digital Single Market, and Ms. Terry Reintke, MEP and Rapporteur of the European Parliament Report on gender equality and empowering women in the digital age — ECWC16 provides attendees an exclusive opportunity to:

  • Meet and greet practitioners and decision-makers from leading tech, consulting and public policy organisations in Europe and the world;
  • Participate in a job fair just with hundreds of top university, masters and PhD candidates, and recruiters from Europe and beyond;
  • Network and connect with Europe’s largest community focused on building the digital future and guaranteeing the place of women in it.

Community-Building: In particular, ECWC16 seeks to ignite a pan-European community engaged in promoting European digital competitiveness who are:

  • Women*; and
  • European university bachelors, masters or PhD program students; and/or
  • in Computer Science or other study disciplines; and/or
  • Early, mid- or advanced-career professionals;

*anyone who identifies as a woman.

Partners and Participants:  If you would like to be involved as an organisation or individual in any of the DLI activities or in the wider ECWC16 event, please contact us!

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Successful Atlantic "Ada 200" Meeting

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lady Ada Lovelace – namesake of the DLI Ada Awards and credited with being the world’s first computer-programmer – on 1 July in Brussels, the Digital Leadership Institute hosted its third best practices roundtable of 2015 on getting more girls and women into digital studies and careers. At this first-ever transatlantic “Ada 200” meeting, attended by Brussels decision-makers in technology and policy fields, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI founder, and Ms. Teresa Carlson, Vice President Worldwide Public Sector at Amazon Web Services, facilitated a discussion that emphasized a need for the following:

  • sharing of best-practices between U.S. and European ICT organizations to increase global tech leadership by women;
  • driving girl- and women-focused digital skills and entrepreneurship initiatives; and
  • promoting “disruptive recruitment practices” that break industry stereotypes and “business-as-usual” hiring practices by ICT organizations.

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Following the roundtable, Ms. Carlson spoke of her experience as a woman leader in technology in an inspiring talk to young participants of a g-Hive “3D Jewelry Design & Printing” workshop sponsored by AWS.  “You are leaders,” Ms. Carlson told the teenage girls assembled.  “The skills you’re learning will help you get into good schools, and if you keep at it,” she promised, “I will come back here to recruit you.”

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Ms. Carlson underscored the commitment of Amazon Web Services to getting more women into digital studies and careers worldwide, and engaged her organization to support the work of the Digital Leadership Institute. As a start, AWS pledged sponsorship to the 2015 Ada Awards, a DLI initiative that recognizes outstanding girls and women in technology and the organizations that support them around the world.

Photos from the event may be found on the DLI Facebook page here (Album: Atlantic Ada 2015).

Ms. Teresa Carlson is vice president of worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services where she is responsible for operations, strategy, sales and business development. She was previously vice president of federal government business at Microsoft, among several other positions, and worldwide vice president of marketing and business development for Lexign Incorporated. Before moving into IT, Carlson spent nearly 15 years in healthcare. Among her many honors is the March of Dimes Heroines in Technology Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also one of the Washingtonian’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

 

 

 

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DLI Update – June 2015

The DLI Board and Executive Team are actively involved in initiatives with partners and stakeholders around the world that promote ESTEAM (entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) leadership by girls and women. Find out below about our work in June 2015, learn here about future activities we are involved in, and visit our calendar for upcoming events that DLI is organising.

KET1-2 June – Digital & Key Enabling Technologies Skills Conference (Brussels): On 2 June, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, contributed to a high-level panel on the subject “towards an e-Leadership ecosystem” at the first annual Digital and Key Enabling Technologies Skills Conference in Brussels.

bxl smart city3 June – Brussels Smart Cities Summit (Brussels): On 3 June, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, delivered a keynote address on the topic of “Smart People: Education and raising citizens’ awareness of new technologies” as part of a Smart City Summit presented by Mrs. Bianca Debaets, Brussels Capital Region Secretary of State for Regional and Community Informatics and Digital Transition, and hosted by the Brussels Regional Informatics Centre (BRIC).

SKFlogo4 June – SKF Belgium: On 4 June, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, visited SKF Belgium to facilitate the second meeting of the SKF Women Work group.

ladiescircle9 June – Ladies Circle (Brussels): On 9 June, the Ladies Circle of Asse & Grimbergen enjoyed a special evening of wine, discussion and 3D Design & Printing facilitated by DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, at the DLI inQube space in Brussels.

 

unhrc17 June – 29th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva): As part of the 29th Session of the UN Human Rights Council taking place in Geneva on 17 June, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, contributed to a Global Alliance on Media And Gender Europe panel on “Issues and challenges facing women in media“.

29 June – Visit of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO (Brussels):Facebook & DLI Meeting On 29 June 2015 in Brussels, DLI board members, Ms. Cheryl Miller, and Ms. Janine de Keersmaeker, joined Ms. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and founder of LeanIn.org, and a small group of Brussels policy-makers to discuss increasing participation of girls and women in technological sectors.

 

Be sure to visit our Calendar, Upcoming Activities page, and sign up for the DLI Newsletter in order to keep up with DLI events and activities!

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Erasmus+ Youth Coding Project Launch

Launch CYP

On 3 July 2015 in Brussels, DLI and its partners – Consulta Europa, PRISM & ATI (Spanish Association of IT Professionals) – launched Coding for Young People, a two year European Commission Erasumus+ Project that will collect and share best practices on innovative methods to teach coding to European youth, with a special focus on girls.

CYP PartnersFor more information about the Coding for Young People project, please contact us!

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DLI Update – April 2015

In April 2015, DLI formally welcomed a new board of directors to lead the organization in new directions.  We celebrated our fifth annual Girls in ICT Day event including launch of the 2015 European Ada Awards and a fantastic “Girls and the Future Internet” workshop — led by Esther Roure Vila from Cisco and Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, g-Hive Community Manager.  We also kicked off the “Kick@ss Online” inQube series for women entrepreneurs and career-seekers led by our very own Ms. Selma Franssen, Community Manager for inQube.  Please read below for more details on what we have been up to!

11 April – TEDxVilnius (Vilnius):  tedxvDLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, co-hosted the fifth annual TEDxVilnius event.  This year’s theme was “Pale Blue Dot,” as immortalized by the Voyager 1 photo of the Earth in 1990 and in the words of the great Carl Sagan.  The 2015 edition of TEDxVilnius featured inspiring speakers from around the world.  Cheryl herself gave a talk at the 2012 edition of TEDxVlinius on the subject “girls are going to save the world,” of course.  Photos here.

20 April – European Commission Forum on The Future of Gender Equality (Brussels): EC  Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Digital Literacy Lead, and Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, were invited to contribute to a European Commission forum on the future of gender policy in Europe.  Ms. Miller co-led two workshops on “Women and the Digital Society,” whose attendees set the following policy priorities in this area:

  1. dgjusticeDigital skills for girls;
  2. Funding for tech entrepreneurship by women; and
  3. Legislation against cyberviolence against girls and women.

A brochure for the event, which showcased several high-level speakers and addressed eight key subject areas for future gender policy is here.  A report on the forum outcomes is forthcoming.

girlsinict2015 logo25 April – Girls in ICT Day – 2015 European Ada Awards Launch (Brussels):  International Girls in ICT Day took place on 25 April, and with it came the DLI launch of the 2015 European Ada Awards – recognising outstanding girls and women in digital studies and careers in Europe, and the organisations who support them.  In its third year, the 2015 European Ada Awards will be handed out on 10 December in Brussels – in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lady Ada Lovelace – in the following three categories:

  1. Digital Woman of the Year
  2. Digital Girl of the YearAda Awards
  3. Digital Impact Organisation of the Year

Nominations for the three EU Ada Awards will be open until 23 October 2015.

SKFlogo30 April – DLI at SKF (Brussels):  On 30 April, Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Digital Literacy Lead, and Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, visited the Belux headquarters of SKF to celebrate International Women’s Day and kick off the “Women Work” initiative for SKF employees.

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

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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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