Given the scope and importance of information and communication technology (ICT) to the growth and development of CARICOM, women and girls were Thursday encouraged and empowered to enter and excel in the male-dominated field.
At the opening ceremony of an event at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown, Guyana, to observe Girls in ICT Day, the all-female assemblage of speakers pointed to the opportunities available in the field of ICT and the necessity for early engagement of girls in the sector.
For Minister of Public Telecommunications and Tourism of Guyana, the Hon. Catherine Hughes, engaging women in ICT was “smart economics”, especially in the context of the serious contributions women were making in business, economies, families and their lives.
She encouraged the scores of girls at the event to take note that like others who had overcome challenges and were successful, they could also do the same.
The only limit you have today is the one you put on yourself,” the Minister remarked.
Her colleague Minister, the Hon. Nicolette Henry of the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry of Guyana, referred to data that suggested that the ICT field was still dominated by men, and called for more to be done to encourage women and girls to enter the sector.
She said the Girls in ICT Day was about empowering girls to invent, innovate and realise their dreams.
CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Manorma Soeknandan, PhD., said girls needed to be engaged regarding ICT from the primary level. According to her, it was clear that the focus was too much on using computers, and not enough emphasis was being place on innovating through their use.
While she acknowledged there were ICT success stories in every country, especially in the area of application development or building ‘apps’, Ambassador Soeknandan said there was need for more successes in ICT if the Region was to be truly transformed. She added that CARICOM Heads of Government were sure that ICT was one of the sectors that could make a positive contribution to the development of the Region.
Help our girls make a difference in their life and in the life of others by equipping them to manage these powerful tools,” she said.
She challenged participants at the event to become more active advocates of bridging the gender gap across the Region and the world. She also encouraged persons to advocate that more girls and women study, train for and compete for the high-level, high-paying jobs in every industry, especially in ICT. She said this also included girls and women who were differently-abled, noting that they too had a meaningful place in society and the world of work.
The opening ceremony also featured presentations by Ms. Jewel Collier-Swan, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, Guyana, Ms. Norma Daniels, who owns, manages and operates CSR Computers, and, via video, Ms Tarun Butcher, Vice Dean, Regional Initiative, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, Belize. MS Yldiz Pollack-Beighle, Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development, CARICOM Secretariat, chaired the ceremony.
Following the opening ceremony, there were various workshops and seminars that addressed issues such cyber behavioural tips, video journalism, animation, using technology and photography.
The Girls in ICT Day Event for 2016 was hosted under the theme ‘Tech girls for a tech world. Girls and women in ICT; beneficial to every country’.
This is the third staging of a ‘Girls in ICT’ event by the CARICOM Secretariat. Other stakeholders included The Ministry of Public Telecommunications Guyana, Ministry of Education, Guyana, the University of Guyana, the Cyril Potter College of Education and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors. Since 2011, International Girls in ICT Day has been celebrated in 150 countries around the world with more than 5,300 events and participation of over 177,000 girls and young women.
