Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1128919
13.06.19 6 FOREIGN NEWS LIAM CARTER IF addressed properly and im- minently the domestic digital sector could be the first sector where Malta could see women truly on par with men, parlia- mentary secretary for digital economy Silvio Schembri said yesterday "As a country, we have im- proved a lot within the digital space, now becoming a main point of reference, yet we are still lagging behind in women participation," said Schembri. He was speaking during the launch of the Women4IT ini- tiative a European funded pro- ject aimed at increasing the numbers of girls and young women in the digital agenda. Moreover, Women4IT also aims at structural transforma- tion of the labour market due to the growing digital society in which there are significantly fewer women than men. Schembri explained that the lack of women's participation within the ICT sector is a sce- nario that is being experienced across the EU member states. As numbers clearly show, in 2017, the gender employment gap amounted to 11.6 percent- age points across the EU, with a 76.9% employment rate for men and 65.3% for women. To reach the Europe 2020 target of a 75% employment rate for both women and men, particu- lar attention needs to be devot- ed to the labour market partic- ipation of women. Schembri said that the aim of the project was to design and experiment an innovative em- ployment solution for women in the digital jobs sector. "is European funded pro- ject will serve as a springboard which will see the insertion of a hundred young women into digital jobs through the pro- vision of awareness-raising, training and employments re- 'Malta could eradicate digital Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri launches Women5IT initiative and insists the local digital sector could see the first breakthrough in puing women on par with men Parliamentary secretary for the digital economy Silvio Schembri addresing attendants