At Mobile World Congress 2017 on 2 March in Barcelona, the Digital Leadership Institute and its cofounder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, will both be recognised for their outstanding contributions to closing the gender gapin mobile and digital sectors, as part of the first-ever Women4Tech Summit. Ms. Miller and DLI have respectively been shortlisted for 2017 Global Mobile Awards for Mobile Industry Leadership in both the individual and organisation categories.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djyGQ5moEYU
In support of this year’s Women4Tech activities at MWC, the Digital Leadership Institute will also spearhead a European Commission mission to MWC that includes policy-makers, researchers and advocates for Women in Tech from across Europe and Africa. In addition, Ms. Miller will moderate a panel on “Reducing the Gender Gap in the Startup Ecosystem” taking place on 28 February as part of the 4YFN (4 Years from Now) startup event at MWC. Ms. Reine Essobmadje, founding member of DLI, will also be on hand the same day to award top projects from the Hack D Gap global challenge promoting gender balance in the tech industry.
On 8 December in Brussels, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo recognised top girls and women in digital fields in Europe and underscored the need for positive role models, coding curriculum and communities of excellence to encourage youth toward digital careers. “Young people need inspiration,” De Croo said in remarks at a ceremony for the 2016 Ada Awards, named for Lady Ada Lovelace the world’s first computer programmer. “That inspiration comes from seeing excellent people at work, like the girls and women recognised by these awards.”
De Croo’s comments came on the heels of news that women make up fewer IT professionals than ever in Europe despite skyrocketing demand for digital expertise. “Over the last ten years, demand for tech specialists in Europe has grown eight times faster than other fields, but women hold just sixteen percent of these jobs,” explained Cheryl Miller, cofounder of Brussels-based Digital Leadership Institute and organisers of the Ada Awards. “By 2020, one million IT jobs will go unfilled because the skills are not available in the marketplace,” Miller continued. “So by engaging women, we can potentially double the number of tech experts in Europe, increasing European competitiveness and making sure girls and women do not get left behind in the digital disruption.”
Nuria Oliver, winner of the 2016 European Digital Woman of the Year Award, noted that digital disruption risks exacerbating the lack of diversity in tech, but also holds promise for positive change. “The percentage of girls and women in technology in most Western countries is simply not acceptable,” Oliver observed. “But in the future, we will only be able to address problems like global warming and the ageing population with the help of technology. So we need all our diverse human capital on board: to optimise innovation potential and to increase our chances of success in these important fields.”
According to Beata Stelmach, CEO for GE Poland, workforce diversity and digital transformation are two opportunities that GE, hosts of the 2016 Ada Awards ceremony, is explicitly leveraging for success. “We see GE as a 124-year-old software startup,” said Stelmach. “And with this thinking, we seek to pioneer a digital industrial sector that could contribute as much as $1.7 Trillion to European GDP annually by 2025.” In order to fully exploit the opportunities that digitisation brings,”it will be key to engage the entire European workforce,” she added. “And women in particular.”
Cerys Lock and Gabrijela Juriç, winners of the 2016 European Digital Girl of the Year Award, echoed the message of Deputy Prime Minister De Croo. Fourteen-year-old Cerys, feels that more computer science curriculum in school would be critical to get young people, girls included, engaged in the digital transformation. She reflected on the era of the Commodore 64 and said “forty years ago that computer was popular and got people into coding. We need something similar today, like the Raspberry Pi, that I personally am a huge fan of.” Gabrijela, also 14, added: “I am just proud that what I am doing actually matters to people in the sector. That really inspires me to keep going.”
Deputy Prime Minister De Croo summed up the awards event: “When someone is good at something you need to show it and congratulate her for what she is doing,” he said. “That is why the Ada Awards and the work of DLI is important: You need to show examples, and these young ladies are just the kind of examples we all need to see.”
The 2016 European Ada Awards were presented in the following categories to the noted recipients:
The DLI Board and Executive Team are actively involved in initiatives with partners and stakeholders around the world that promote ESTEAM* leadership by girls and women. Find out below about our work in September 2016, learn here about future activities in which we are involved, and visit our calendar for upcoming events organised by DLI.
*entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics
15 September – Women in Business Social Event (Brussels): On 15 September in Brussels, DLI team members were on board for the autumn networking event of the Women in Business platform at Impulse.Brussels.
15 September- MizBiz Mentorship Event (Brussels): Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Cofounder, joined a 15 September MIZBIZ speed dating event that connected MIZBIZ members with mentors in the Brussels business community.
21-22 September – Digital African Woman Annual Event (Brussels): In the context of the inaugural Digital African Women event on 21-22 September, Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Cofounder, carried out a series of Design Thinking and Android app development workshops to support entrepreneurship by women in the African diaspora.
27 September – “How do we make every week Code Week?” Debate at the European Commission (Brussels): On 27 September in Brussels, the European Code Week Ambassadors, including Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Cofounder, and wider community engaged in a debate on the merits of learning to code.
28-29 September – ET2020 Working Group on Digital Skills and Competences (Helsinki): On 28-29 September, Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Cofounder, joined representatives of Ministries of Education from across Europe to promote Digital Skills and Competences especially for Europe’s young women.
30 September – European Commission WEgate Launch Event (Brussels): On 30 September in Brussels, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Cofounder, joined an expert panel at the launch of WEgate, the European Commission platform promoting women in entrepreneurship.
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!
Digital Leadership: As official partner to ECWC16, DLI will deliver several elements of the event, including:
DLI Tribe at ECWC: DLI has the distinct honour of offering free or deeply discounted access to ECWC16 for up to 100 young and adult women. Please sign up to express your interest in benefiting from #DLITribe status at ECWC16!
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!
During the week of 1-5 February 2016, hundreds of regions and cities across Europe will be celebrating the power of startups to revitalise the economy, stimulate job creation and address our most pressing social needs in innovative ways. Actors — from governmental authorities to university incubators and grassroots organisations — are all on board to support the first-ever Startup Europe Week by showcasing the opportunities, resources and support available to individuals in their communities who are eager to launch a new enterprise.
Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI Founder, is coordinating 2016 Startup Europe Week activities for the Brussels Capital Region, numbering four events organised by local startup ecosystem leaders and collectively presented as “Brussels: The Heart of Startup.” In addition, the launch event for Startup Europe Week will also take place in Brussels at the European Committee of the Regions premises.
For more information and to register for the Startup Europe Week 2016 activities taking place in Brussels from 1 to 5 February, please follow the below links:
Event organisers across Europe look forward to welcoming you in their cities and regions for this inaugural Startup Europe Week, and we especially welcome your involvement in “Brussels: The Heart of Startup!”
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.
1-2 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.
29 June – Visit of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO (Brussels): 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!
1-3 May – Startup Weekend Leuven (Leuven, BE): On 3 May, Ms. Cheryl Miller, DLI founder, judged nine teams competing for final recognition at Startup Weekend Leuven. Prizes were rewarded to three projects: “FestivalRadar,” “Woodies,” and “ZenSay.” See more details and photos on the inQube Facebook page.
8-10 May – Startup Weekend Brussels – Maker Edition (Brussels): 8-10 May in Brussels, Ms. Selma Franssen, DLI Communication Director and inQube Community Manager, and Ms. Rosanna Kurrer, DLI Digital Literacy Lead and g-Hive Community Manager, provided startup and maker advice to the over eighty participants of Brussels’ first-ever Startup Weekend Maker Edition. On the final day of the event, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, participated in an all-star jury and awarded prizes to deserving winners in three categories: Internet of Things, Fab and Maker. All the women participants of Startup Weekend Brussels – Maker Edition also received free admission to two upcoming inQube workshops. See more details and photos on the inQube Facebook page.
19-21 May – Pink Wave / Nuvola Rosa Girls in ICT Event (Milan): On 19 May, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, traveled to Milan for the third edition of “Pink Cloud” (Nuvola Rosa) organized by Microsoft Italy, aiming to inspire 1500 girls to take up studies and careers in technology. Ms. Miller moderated a high-level panel on the topic of “Skilling up to be Digital Leaders of Tomorrow” with leading women from Microsoft, ASUS, Ernst & Young and Aviva. Ms. Miller and other event speakers also enjoyed a guided tour of the US and European pavilions at the World Expo 2015 and attended a VIP gala hosted by the Region of Lombardy. Photos on the DLI Facebook page.
20 May – MIT Innovators Under 35 Belgium (Brussels): DLI has partnered with MIT Technology Review and Opinno to identify and recognise top innovators in Belgium, France and Poland for the 2015 MIT Innovators Under 35 Europe awards. On 20 May, DLI Founder, Ms. Cheryl Miller, contributed to the event recognising Belgian award-winners for 2015 on the topic of “Diversity Equals Innovation.”
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!
11 April – TEDxVilnius (Vilnius): DLI 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.
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.
25 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:
30 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!
The opening ceremony for the 2015 European Ada Awards featured lightening talks by inspiring Digital Leaders including girls and women in tech from across Europe, past & current Ada Award-winners, and supporters of the Awards, including:
Ms. Alexa Joyce, Director of Education Policy, Teaching and Learning at Microsoft
The launch of the new DLI digital innovation centre for girls and women included opening online nominations for the 2015 European Ada Awards in the following categories:
17:00-19:00 –g-Hive workshop on “Girls & The Future Internet”:A hands-on workshop for girls*, ages 13-17, to promote active participation and leadership by girls in designing and building the Internet of tomorrow, for fun, safety and wellbeing.
20:00-22:00 – inQube workshop “Quantify Everything”: Third workshop in the Spring 2015 “Build A Kick&ss Online Presence” series for women* by Ms. Selma Franssen, DLI Communications Director & inQube Community Manager.
If you or your organisation is interested in partnering, volunteering, sponsoring girls & women to participate in DLI activities, or would like to support DLI and its mission in other ways, please contact us. Donations to DLI are gratefully accepted and go toward furthering its mission of bridging the gender gap and the digital divide worldwide.
Thank you to our 2014-2015 Ada Award Partners & Sponsors!
On the heels of an exciting DLI opening event on 9 March 2015, we are now thrilled to introduce the new members of the DLI Board of Directors. Learn more about each board member below, and stay tuned here for further news about their activities with the Institute.