Today, the European Commission and the Connecting Women in Digital (WIDCON) project brought together leaders, policymakers, academia, civil society and other stakeholders to discuss actions that can advance women’s participation in ICT, and strengthen Europe’s digital future.
The event was attended by Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen, who kicked off discussions with an opening speech, emphasising that women are essential to unlocking Europe’s competitiveness in digital – closing the gender gap could add up to €16 billion to EU GDP each year.
Member of the European Parliament Elena Sancho Murillo followed by starting that the European Commission and European Parliament share a common goal of ensuring Europe's digital transformation is not only competitive but also inclusive.
While the Executive Vice-President and the MEP praised actions that have been taken so far, they called for stronger progress, and pushed for participants to re-energise ideas for commitments to strengthen women in digital.
This opened the floor to discussions to gather ideas that could inform a new Women in Digital declaration, building on the 2019 Ministerial Declaration and supporting the European Commission’s Digital Decade objectives.
This discussion explored concrete recommendations from relevant experts, based on the work of the thematic working groups of the Connecting Women in Digital (WIDCON) project.
The Women in Digital event followed the publication of the Women in Digital Annual Report 2025. The report delivered the first full interpretation of the Women in Digital Index, turning data into action.
Read more about Women in Digital.