D2.1 Overview of national actions

The deliverable presents an analysis of existing initiatives, funding mechanisms, related to gender balance and Women in Digital (WiD) landscape. Grounded in the framework of the “leaky pipeline”, which illustrates the progressive decline of women’s participation across the digital career path, the report reveals key insights and disparities across Member States (MS) and programmatic phases.

The report indicates that the majority of initiatives are concentrated in the ICT and Digital employment phases, while STEM-focused initiatives are often localized or integrated into school curricula. Leadership-oriented initiatives are notably scarce, exposing a critical gap in efforts to support women’s progression into decision-making and executive roles in the digital sector.

Germany, Austria, and Sweden emerge as frontrunners based on normalized scoring of four indicators: presence of operational initiatives, share of RRF and Cohesion funding allocated to gender equality, and number of WiD-related projects. In stark contrast, 11 Member States have no visible national-level initiatives, highlighting significant regional disparities.

Only 3.4% of the €655 billion distributed through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is dedicated to gender equality, with further variation in Cohesion Fund allocations. Notably, Austria leads in Cohesion Fund use for WiD-related initiatives, while Sweden allocates the highest proportion of RRF funds to gender equality (19%).

While many non-European initiatives tend to adopt an intersectional lens, incorporating considerations of race, language, religion, migration status, and socio-economic background, most European WiD programs remain narrowly focused on gender dimension alone. This limited scope overlooks the compounded barriers faced by women from marginalized or underrepresented communities, including those with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Addressing these intersecting inequalities is important for building a more inclusive and effective digital policy landscape across Europe.

A composite index ranking countries based on four normalized metrics places Austria, Germany, and Sweden in the top three positions, respectively. At the lower end of the ranking are Denmark, Luxembourg, and Malta. However, it is important to note that these results reflect only the visibility of Women in Digital (WiD) initiatives, specifically in terms of operational programs and national funding and do not necessarily represent the broader landscape of gender equality or the lived experiences of women in the digital sector within each country. To gain a fuller understanding of the current state of WiD across Member States, upcoming Connect Women in Digital (WIDCON) project activities will focus on both primary and secondary data collection, complemented by WiD Forum engagements and Summits. These efforts aim to support the development of more inclusive digital ecosystems.