At the end of 2009 more than 1500 people attended and viewed online, the second 'Women and Technologies 2008-2015' conference, hosted by the Milano Chamber of Commerce.  Men and women, all who work and live with a focus on skills, merit and diversity, came together as 'bringers of a vision' to make original contributions to technological innovation and societal development eliminating issues of gender.

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Girls on the continent continue to obtain excellent exam results across the board and yet although female involvement in ICT business remained static during the economic downtrun, there are still few women in permanent techno-scientific professions:

'There are more than 31, 300 enterprises run by women in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector in Italy. 3 out of 5 are in the Informatics sector, while 1 out of 5 is engaged in creating and/or repairing machines and equipment. Moreover, female businesses in ICT have been remaining in stable positions in the last year, in spite of the global economic crisis.'

Many other figures were highlighted by experts, researchers, policy makers and enthusiasts during the conference, such as the low percentage (only 20%) of women employed in the R&D sector in Europe and the under representation of girls at universities in technological fields. Addressing the issue of how technologies need and lead to an interdisciplinary approach to research was essential to underline that a great wealth is available when opening professional horizons to cross-fertilisation. One example among the many: the whole bio-medical sector fostered by collaboration among biologist, medicine specialists, micro and nano technologies experts.

Intersections between ICT and organisational changes were also tackled during the discussion, with the co-adaptation between people/organisational needs and technologies cited as the winning approach.

During the “Women and Technologies” event in Milan three female innovators were awarded with the prize of “The technovisionaries”:

• Catia Bastioni, CEO Novamont S.p.a.
• Barbara Poggiali, CEO and General Director DADA- RCS group.
• Special Award to Public Administration: Maria Virgina Rizzo, web manager, Ministry of Internal Affairs.
• Special Prize to applications with social impact: Stefania Bastianello, trainer at AISLA (Associazione italiana sclerosi laterale amiotrofica).
• Special Prize for Schools Linda Giannini, teacher at Istituto comprensivo Don Milani, Latina.

It was noted that:

'Technologies, by way of their cross-disciplinary quality, can represent an ideal locus for the sharing and collaboration of these different disciplines. The move towards systems that are ever more focused on services necessitates this very ability to create dialogue between technologies and people and to integrate typical aspects of social life – such as interaction, dialogue and conversation, reputation – into ICT'

With more than 200 participants and a wide media coverage, the event contributed to developing an awareness of the issue at a national level, and provided it's organisers with the voice to call for the orientation of:

'2015 generation towards professional choices that contain this transversal (cross-disciplinary) element and to support their acquisition of expertise and knowledge through both formal (school and university) and informal learning processes.'