Ten-year-old Belgian is Digital Girl of the Year

Ten-year-old Lune Victoria van Ewijk from Sint-Katelijne-Waver in Antwerp province has been named Digital Girl of the Year in a European contest to encourage girls to take part in science and technology. This year is the first time the awards have had a category for children 10 and under.

The awards are handed out by a consortium of ICT companies and organisations, including the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies and the European Centre for Women and Technology. They were given out by Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner for the digital agenda.

Lune designs her own video games and interactive movies “At 10 years of age, she is already a true digital visionary,” noted the consortium in a statement, “and already has a track record of getting girls her age excited about digital endeavour.” In a video, Lune explained that her dream is to design and build robots “to make the world a better place”.

Seven million people are employed in the ICT sector in the EU, but only one in three is female – despite a growing shortage of skilled personnel and increasing job vacancies.

The prize in the category 11 to 14 went to the British schoolgirl Amy Mather, while the award for Digital Woman of the Year went to Sasha Bezuhanova, the founder of the Bulgarian centre for women in technology.