The Joint High-level Conference "Women in Science, Innovation and Technology in the Digital Age" organized by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Information Society and Media and the Hungarian EU Presidency was held in Budapest on 6-8th of March 2011 marking the 100th Anniversary of International Womens' Day.
| I. | We, the 261 participants[1] from 26 countries representing key public, private actors, academia and NGOs from Europe, as well as the European Commission, ILO, UNESCO, UNECE and the World Bank agree that getting more women into science, innovation and technology is not just an issue of social justice, but an economic necessity, a key tool for economic growth and competitiveness. |
| II. | We recognize the relevance of Article 42 of the Budapest Declaration on science and the use of scientific knowledge adopted by the UNESCO/ICSU World Conference on Science (1999), the conclusions of the review of the Beijing Declaration+15, the ITF Declaration of Agreement in Support of Girls and Women in Information and Communication Technology(2008), the Declaration of the Spanish EU Presidency Conference SheLeader 2.0 (2010) and the conclusions of the 55th session of the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women on Access and Participation of Women and Girls in education, training, science and technology (2011). |
| III. | We aspire to a vision whereby European governments, businesses, academia and NGOs align in multi-stakeholder platforms to actively support girls' and women's participation in the on-going great transformation and strategic paradigm-shift of the Digital Age. |
| IV. | We identify our shared objectives by 2020: Girls and women are empowered active participants of the knowledge economy enabled by an environment ready to support gender mainstreaming in access, design and use of ICT in the areas of education, research and innovation, entrepreneurship, workforce, leadership and the media. |
| V. | In view of the above, we recommend to the European Parliament and the European Commission and all European stakeholders, especially all CEOs, board members and CIOs of ICT related industries to support the adoption of a Gender Action Plan for the Digital Agenda to secure that women can on equal terms join the Movement for Digital Action and contribute to implementing the Digital Agenda and the Europe 2020 Strategy. |
| VI. | We invite key actors in politics and industries interested in measurably and significantly increasing the number of girls and women in science, innovation and technology to support
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