 It has been widely reported that today's young women are losing interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as they feel these subjects may be boring, mainly for boys, and generally not a path that can lead to making a positive impact to someone's life. As Secretary-General of the ITU, which is the United Nations Agency for ICT, I can tell you that the very opposite is true. ICT is a fascinating field, exciting, dynamic, impacting on almost every aspect of our lives. And the ICT industry needs the talents of both men and women to ensure everyone benefits. But don't just take my word for it. Let me introduce you to our four female winners from last year's edition of the annual ITU Telecom World Young Innovators Competition. These four young women come from different regions of the world and are each working to solve very different challenges. What do they all share in common? A desire to solve a problem and a degree in computer science or engineering? Recognizing a weakness in the connection between blood banks, donors and hospitals? OMAIMA created a system that monitors blood units in blood banks and automatically alerts donors via SMS when units reach critical levels or in an emergency situation. Through GPS, a match is swiftly found between the blood group and donors closest to the blood bank. This reduction in delays is critical to saving lives. Victoria is applying a technological solution to the longstanding problem of cattle disease, which has devastated many countries around the world. Her 24-hour enabled system detects a rise in temperature from the animal and sends data back to the server to alert and so isolate an outbreak. This real-time detection could lead to eradicating food and mouth disease. The quality of education has a huge role to play in encouraging students' interests, but many schools lack adequate materials and funding. Iran has created a virtual reality-based system where students will be able to perform practical and creative scientific experiments in an augmented virtual laboratory. This virtual laboratory will slash the costs of running a traditional lab and provide a stimulating learning environment. Without access to a computer, internet or bank account, craftsmome can struggle to earn a living. Catherine developed a trading platform to connect offline vendors to online consumers via SMS or MMS on a basic mobile phone. Craftsmome can upload their products for sale and the system manages the sale and transfers credit card payment to mobile money. This simple mobile-to-web platform empowers craftsmome to become global entrepreneurs. On Girls United City Day, I would like to encourage all girls to view technology as the exciting study and career choice. Today's world is already digital. The ICT industry needs you to take an active part in inventing our future.