International Girls in ICT Webinar

• April 30, 2023
• neelam

The shortage of women in ICT remains a major problem not only in the European Union, but also in Slovenia, Czechia and Slovakia. According to a 2021 Eurostat study, only 19.1 % of ICT workers in the EU are women. This low trend is also evident in Slovenia, where 15 % of ICT workers are women, in Slovakia with 14.9 % female presence in ICT and only 10 % in Czechia.

The three National Digital Coalitions, Slovak, Czech and Slovenian, came together last year to raise awareness and encourage young people, especially girls, about the opportunities offered by digitalisation, digital transformation and the information and communication technology sector in general, through a series of events called Girls & ICT. The webinars showcased 12 interesting women with inspirational stories about their career paths and the challenges they had to overcome in order to reach where they are today in the IT world. They discussed the opportunities offered by the digital transformation and showed participants different job, career and learning opportunities in ICT.

Why is this an example of good practice?

Bringing together coalitions in organising webinars with pan-European action is often a necessary step in addressing complex international challenges, including when there is a shortage of women in information and communication technologies (ICT). Coalitions make it possible to bring together the forces of different countries, organisations and other stakeholders and to achieve better results than could be achieved individually – in particular the impact on reaching the potential group.

In the event of a shortage of women in ICT, joining the coalition in webinars with a common audience may involve countries that already have a greater presence of women in the sector, with those that are lagging behind. Joint efforts may include the development and promotion of programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing women’s interest and access to ICT, including improving access to education, training and career opportunities.