The digital era needs women leaders

For the European Union to come out of this pandemic stronger, we all need to work together to make the digital era an inclusive, prosperous and successful one – one where the gender gap finally closes for good.

We need to unleash the power of technology to support equal opportunities.

We need digital tools respectful of our values, and supportive of everyone’s efforts and talents.

This Women in Tech bulletin is not a special edition: we have decided to permanently shift the focus of our monthly email updates to draw attention to this key topic that concerns us all. Because for change to happen, society as a whole needs to believe in it.

Every month, we will bring you updates on the female movers and shakers in the world of tech; on how technology is supporting gender equality across Europe and the world; and on what we do as a company to help level the playing field.

Abraham Liu, Huawei Chief Representative to the EU Institutions

Find out more on our commitment to women in the digital era

Women of Huawei

Women engineers: yes we can!

Featuring Carolina Lopes, Wireless Engineer at Huawei Portugal.

Huawei & European Industry: natural partners

This article by Sophie Batas, Director of Cybersecurity at Huawei EU and Data Privacy, appeared in POLITICO.

Together we can address the challenges of a new emerging order

As 2021 begins, it is clear that the past months have been quite hard for all of us. Even though we are starting to see the end of the tunnel, with mass vaccinations underway, the pandemic continues to heavily impact our daily routine – and to claim many lives.

At Huawei, we concluded 2020 with an announcement that has particular significance for me: Huawei’s first manufacturing plant outside China will be located in Brumath, just next to Strasbourg and Baden-Baden. Here, in the Franco-German border region in the very heart of Europe, Huawei is creating hundreds of quality jobs.

Bridging both the gender and the urban-rural gap

Berta Herrero, Huawei’s Senior EU Public Affairs Manager, explains how connectivity can help bridge the double divide: the gap in network access that exists between cities and the countryside, as well as the gap that prevents society from harnessing the full potential of female talent.

Connectivity is now, in essence, a basic right that can help unlock other basic rights across the EU. After all, Europe’s villages are the heart of our continent.

So let 2021 be The Year of European Rural Connectivity, as ensuring network access for all citizens will make the European Union stronger, more united, and more resilient.

For further information on bridging the rural gender gap, catch up with the Women in the Digital Era conference on Rural Connectivity held in Portugal on 11 December 2020, which Berta addressed.

Also check out the report by the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Closing the digital gender gap: women’s participation in the digital economy. Rapporteur: Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP

More women leaders needed in the digital era

Catherine Chen, Corporate Senior Vice-President and Director of the Huawei Board, spoke to the 2020 Web Summit in Lisbon about her 26 years working in the tech industry and her personal journey to the top of Huawei.

Ms Chen said that we needed more female leaders, exemplifying not only the strength of women but also a unique and innovative power that will drive the digital economy forward.

“Gender equality is not about women and men sharing the same mindsets and behaviour. Rather, it's about equal opportunities and rights, which can only come from a more inclusive, diverse and healthy society,” she told the summit, held online on 3 December.

Women account for almost half of the world's five billion working population, but only around half of them participate in the labour force. “In the Digital Age, we do not only need more women represented in the industry, we also need women leaders,” she pointed out.

Read more of what she said at the 2020 Web Summit in this report of The Irish Times.

Women in Europe ‘less likely to work or be skilled in ICT’

Women are still less likely to work or be skilled in ICT

New data collected by the European Commission’s Women in Digital Scoreboard shows that women are less likely than men to have specialist digital skills and work in the digital technology field.

Only when we look at basic digital skills has the gender gap narrowed - from 10.5% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2019.

“Women's contribution to Europe's digital economy is crucial,” said Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager.

“The Scoreboard shows that only 18% of information and communications technology specialists in the EU are women. So we still have to do more to ensure that the next Ada Lovelace is given the opportunities she rightly deserves.”

The European Commission aims to address these shortcomings through a five-year action plan presented in connection with the European Skills Agenda.

Meanwhile, the Commission has also incorporated an inclusive strategy addressing gender equality in its coronavirus recovery plan. The effect of the pandemic on the economy is thought to have widened the gender gap in areas such as employment and pay.

AGENDA

3-4 February
Masters of Digital
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to give a Keynote Address on Day 2

23 February
EU Industrial Policy for Digital Leadership
European Parliament forum moderated by Maria Rosa Gibellini, Director General of the European Internet Forum (EIF). Speakers include María Teresa Fábregas Fernández, Director of the European Commission’s Recovery and Resilience Task Force; Dr Vera Demary, Head of Digitalisation, Structural Change and Competition at the German Institute for Economic Research, and; Pilar del Castillo MEP, Chair of the EIF.

8 March
International Women’s Day
The European Parliament’s Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, in collaboration with the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments, will organise a meeting celebrating International Women’s Day on 4 March.
The event will provide a global forum for an exchange of experiences and best practices in advancing women's empowerment during crises such as the one triggered by COVID-19.

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