Kroes: more women should develop apps

More women need to work as app developers or elsewhere in the technology sector. This is what European Commissioner Neelie Kroes of ICT matters advocates. If more women worked in the tech sector, the European economy would grow significantly.

At the moment there are only eight women per 100 app developers, according to figures presented by Kroes. In total, less than 30 percent of the ICT sector consists of female employees. Only 19 percent of managers in the ICT sector are women, compared to an average of 45 percent in other sectors.

The number of women graduating from an ICT course is also decreasing, says Kroes. At present, 3 percent of women who graduate have a diploma from an ICT course, compared to 10 percent among men. It is unknown from which period the statistics date. “Ict is no longer just for the geeky few,” says Kroes. “It’s cool and it’s the future!”

According to Kroes, it is urgent that more women engage in ICT professions. There is a threat of a shortage of 900,000 European ICT specialists, notes Kroes. If there were as many women working in the ICT sector as there are men working now, the gross national product of all EU countries would increase by 9 billion euros, she says.