The issues surrounding the barriers women in technology face every day has arisen in high-profile fashion in the US after a series of PR disasters. First on the agenda was an advertisement for a "hackathon" in Boston, where attendees were promised beer served by female staff. When the controversial comment was alerted on Twitter, two sponsors pulled out of the event and organisers Sqoot issued an apology, claiming it was a joke.

As the world moves further into a digital age, women should be recognised for their skills and talents they can offer to the technology industry. This is the view of Neelie Kroes, vice-president for the digital agenda at the European Commission, who has called on women throughout Europe to sign an appeal for the digital world to take notice of women in technology.

HRH Princess Mary opened the e-Skills Week final event at Experimentum, Copenhagen with a witty and inspirational speech comparing the role of Latin in the Middle Ages to the role of digital skills in the 21st century. The princess sounded very convincing in stressing the need to strengthen the involvement of all and the special importance of considering also the female talent.

Deadline: 4 April 2012; The data scoreboard website launched in May 2011 is intended to diffuse data and indicators in the Information Society area. The present tender is intended to secure the provision of services necessary to continue and improve the operation of this subordinated website.

Last week the world celebrated International Women’s Day and this past weekend, the Women in the World Summit took place in New York City. The summit offers the opportunity for women from around the world to get together and discuss the importance of educating girls throughout every corner of the earth, and what it takes to break down the barriers preventing some girls from receiving an education.

Neelie Kroes Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda Wanted: more women in ICT Launch of "Get Online Week", Brussels, 7th March 2012

The UKRC is calling on women to submit accounts of their memories of the WISE (Women into Science, Engineering and Construction) bus, a campaign that ran in schools in the 1980s. It visited schools to inspire young girls to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) through the use of role models and the UKRC is examining the impact the campaign had on women who are now working in these industries. With this information, the UKRC and WISE hope to find new ways to reach out to girls and their parents to boost their interest in Stem courses and careers.

Females working in male-dominated industries like IT may be able to get some tips on how to improve their self confidence at a workshop being run by Women in Technology this month.

Everybody knows that Silicon Valley has a problem when it comes to the shamefully small percentage of tech jobs held by women in the companies here that are busy changing the world. The Anita Borg Institute, which is dedicated to increasing the role of women in technology, released a study last week that goes beyond the familiar reciting of the sorry numbers and the indicting of those responsible for them. Instead, the Palo Alto outfit lays out the bleak landscape and then offers dozens of steps to turn things around.

Frustrated that her previous efforts to get more women into the top echelons of European business have not yielded stronger results, Viviane Reding, the senior justice official in the European Union, was to announce a new effort Monday that could result in legislation requiring that women occupy up to 60 percent of the seats on corporate boards.