UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has encouraged girls and young women to master digital skills saying the world cannot afford to lose their talent.     "What career choice could be more rewarding than mastering the digital skills that will help you to save our planet and its people?" said the UN chief in a message marking the "Girls in ICT Day" being observed on Thursday.    He said girls in ICT Day is all about encouraging girls and young women to take up the exciting potential of a career in information and communications technology.     It is also about urging governments, industry and academia to develop strategies to equip and support girls who want to embark on such a career.    "The unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, much more effectively than any statement I could make, the vital importance of information and communications technology to society," he said.     With billions of people now confined to home, with businesses shuttered, with health services strained to breaking point, digital networks are playing a crucial role in keeping the world working, said the UN chief.     "They are keeping us connected, supporting health workers treating the sick, and enabling researchers who are collaborating to develop a vaccine," he said.   Guterres said digital technologies will be the key to their success and digital molecular analysis is helping teams understand the virus, so they can target its weak points.     "Digital epidemiological modelling is helping us understand the behaviour of the virus, to help us curb its spread. Yet, when women are excluded from such work, we replicate and deepen inequalities and gender stereotypes, we create products that don’t adequately address the needs of half the population, and we further the gender digital divide," he said.   Guterres said digital solutions are going to be central to every major challenge facing generation of girls and young women. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has encouraged girls and young women to master digital skills saying the world cannot afford to lose their talent.  
 
"What career choice could be more rewarding than mastering the digital skills that will help you to save our planet and its people?" said the UN chief in a message marking the "Girls in ICT Day" being observed on Thursday. 
 
He said girls in ICT Day is all about encouraging girls and young women to take up the exciting potential of a career in information and communications technology.  
 
It is also about urging governments, industry and academia to develop strategies to equip and support girls who want to embark on such a career. 
 
"The unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, much more effectively than any statement I could make, the vital importance of information and communications technology to society," he said.  
 
With billions of people now confined to home, with businesses shuttered, with health services strained to breaking point, digital networks are playing a crucial role in keeping the world working, said the UN chief.  
 
"They are keeping us connected, supporting health workers treating the sick, and enabling researchers who are collaborating to develop a vaccine," he said.
 
Guterres said digital technologies will be the key to their success and digital molecular analysis is helping teams understand the virus, so they can target its weak points.  
 
"Digital epidemiological modelling is helping us understand the behaviour of the virus, to help us curb its spread. Yet, when women are excluded from such work, we replicate and deepen inequalities and gender stereotypes, we create products that don’t adequately address the needs of half the population, and we further the gender digital divide," he said.
 
Guterres said digital solutions are going to be central to every major challenge facing generation of girls and young women.