The Fifth International Conference on Digital Society continues a series of international events covering a large spectrum of topics related to advanced networking, applications, and systems technologies in a digital society. ICDS 2011 comprises a series of independent tracks that complement various facets of digital society. A call for papers and workshop proposals has been launched.

Greenlight for girls – Science Day is a free event, hosted at the International School of Brussels, on 20 November 2010. The event – first of its kind by the new Brussels social initiative greenlight for girls – aims to encourage 11-15 year old girls to take up careers in science, technology, engineering and math, by emphasising the link between science and fun. The day unfolds in workshop form covering a wide variety of topics – from digital music to DNA research. A special guest from the cabinet of EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Lorena Boix Alonso will open the event.

The WGBH Educational Foundation and ACM (the Association for Computing Machinery) together with NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology) have invited hundreds of female students from all over Massachusetts on Monday, September 27, to celebrate the launch of Dot Diva, a new initiative to create a positive image of computing for high school girls dotdiva.org. The event, at Microsoft New England Research & Development, includes an interactive fashion show, high tech music demos, an artbotics art installation, and local college Fair. The Dot Diva initiative, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), is intended to increase the number of college-bound girls who recognize the power and potential of computing and computer science to achieve fulfilling career opportunities.

NCWIT's "Programs-in-a-Box" offer turnkey solutions to pressing issues facing the IT community. They inspire young women to engage in computing. Programs-in-a-Box provide all the components necessary for quick and strategic action -- right out-of-the-box. Each Box includes instructions, letters, templates, slide presentations, and other resources designed for practical use by IT professionals. Download and get started.

Sweden has amended the regulations governing admission procedures to higher education institutions. Beginning with admission to the spring semester 2011, Swedish universities and university colleges will no longer be permitted to use gender as a selection criterion even if two applicants for a study space are equally qualified. This comes as a result of the Swedish Government's decision to amend Section 7 of Sweden's Higher Education Ordinance which allowed gender to be taken into account in the admission process when all other factors were equal.

Deutsche Telekom is the first corporation in the Dax-30 index of Germany's largest, publicly traded companies to announce such a measure. Hopefully, others will follow. Today only some 13% of DT's top positions are held by women, while 60% of Germany's business graduates are female.

The European Commission presented a new study which examines how gender inequality in education is addressed in European countries. It shows that gender differences persist in both choice of study and outcomes.

Major employers in the UK have set out their recommendations on how to e-skill the workforce to create sustainable economic growth. As countries around Europe focus on IT skills during European e-Skills week, major employers in the UK have set out their recommendations on how to e-skill the workforce to create sustainable economic growth.

Key e-skills stakeholders in France urge for speeding up collaborative actions. During a long day with 30 prominent keynote speakers in three roundtables "Talents of Digital France 2010" gave a detailed state of the art desciption and highlighted the best initiatives and best route to promote the emergence of talents in France to achieve French ambitions in the field of innovation in the knowledge-based economy.

If you ever wondered why young girls should go for IT do check out Conchita's Dream on. Spanish Electronics, InformationTechnology and Telecommunications Industries and e-Skills Info Spot Spain lauched a new DVD in connection with the key event of the e-Skills Week 2010 conference organized by AETIC - the 24th of February in Madrid.