Dominique Leroy | Building an inclusive digital economy & corporate culture

Starting in the 1940s and 50s, coding was seen as women's work—meticulous, precise, like writing small programs and punching cards. Women were called 'computer ladies' or 'computer girls.' This changed with the personal computer in the 1980s: parents gave PCs to boys, creating a home education advantage that led to a male-dominated stereotype in computing. Enrollment of women in computer science dropped from over 40% in the 1970s to below 15% by 2010. Education and company culture are key to reversing this. At Proximus, where I became CEO in 2014, we focused on shifting the culture to be more inclusive and collaborative, which helps attract women to tech roles, such as cybersecurity where we achieved 33% women through internal training. Today, only about 17% of ICT workers in Europe are women. We need more women in STEM and AI to avoid algorithmic bias—for example, algorithms in hiring may reinforce gender stereotypes, and health trackers like Apple's took years to account for menstruation. We must be aware of these risks and work on education and culture to ensure future digital society reflects gender balance. I'm hopeful that with awareness, we will see change in ten years.