New Roaming falling charges !!!

Using a smartphone while travelling in the European Union became cheaper this week with the introduction of new cost caps on internet usage and calls.

From July 1, the cost of going online while abroad has more than halved, with the maximum price for downloading one megabyte (MB) of data – equivalent to a two-minute video clip – falling from €0.45 to €0.20.

OPEN access for internet service suppliers and BAN roaming fees

Two major legislative acts were approved by the European Parliament.

MEPs want clear rules to prevent internet access providers from promoting some services at the expense of others. EU telecoms regulator BEREC reported that several internet access providers were blocking or slowing down services like “Skype”, which is used to make phone calls over the internet.

Internet access providers would still be able to offer specialized services of higher quality, such as video on demand and business-critical data-intensive “cloud” (data storage) applications, so long as these services are not supplied to "the detriment of the availability or quality of internet access services" offered to other companies or service suppliers.

MEPs underline that internet access should be provided in accordance with the principle of "net neutrality", which means that all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independently of its sender, recipient, type, content, device, service or application.

MEPs also amended the text to ban “roaming” charges (extra fees for using a mobile

phone to call, send text messages or access the internet in another EU country) anywhere in the EU as of 15 December 2015.

COPERNICUS - 1st satellite launch!

Copernicus is a European system for monitoring the Earth, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is the European Programme for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation.

Copernicus consists of a complex set of systems which collect data from multiple sources: earth observation satellites and in situ sensors such as ground stations, airborne and sea-borne sensors. It processes these data and provides users with reliable and up-to-date information through a set of services related to environmental and security issues...

The services address six thematic areas: land, marine, atmosphere, climate change, emergency management and security. They support a wide range of applications, including environment protection, management of urban areas, regional and local planning, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, health, transport, climate change, sustainable development, civil protection and tourism.

Sentinel1-A, the first satellite of this family, is scheduled for launch on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday, 3 Apr 2014. Sentinel-1B will be launched in 2015.

The launch was successful – find more pictures on ESA blog.

Only 9 in 100 European app developers are female! Tech is too important to be left to men!

Facts about women in the digital economy:

•  Only 9 in 100 European app developers are female.

•  Only 19% of ICT managers are women (45% women in other service sectors)

•  Only 19% of ICT entrepreneurs are women (54% women in other service sectors) 

•   Less than 30% of the ICT workforce is female

•  Number of female computing graduate is dropping (3% of female graduates compared to 10% of male graduates)

This campaign builds on a Commission study on women in the ICT sector, which found that the best way to get more women into tech jobs is by giving visibility to inspiring tech professionals, thus turning them into role models. Identifying career paths to inspire can also help women already working in technology stay in the sector throughout their career.

European Commission Vice-President @NeelieKroesEU said:

"Tech is too important to be left to men alone! Every week I meet more and more inspiring women in tech. ICT is no longer for the geeky few – it is cool, and it is the future!”

Join the campaign: Check out this collection of video's at ICTLadies.

You can make your own video with your story about life in the digital sector. Share your video to the "Every Girl Digital" Facebook page.

Happy Women Day!!!