THE Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) is to host about 200 female students from across the island at a one-day seminar and exhibition in celebration of International Girls in ICT Day on Thursday.

The aim of the seminar, which will be held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston, is to promote opportunities and careers that can be pursued at the OUR and other agencies in the field on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by young women.

Among the featured speakers are Minister of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET) Dr Andrew Wheatley; OUR Director General Albert Gordon; Dr Lila Rao-Graham, deputy executive director of Mona School of Business and Management; Lorna Green, founder, chairman and CEO of Digital Transtec Ltd; Dr Moniphia Hewling, cyber security expert at MSET; Brigitte Collins, group chief information officer at University of the West Indies; and representatives from telecoms companies Digicel and Flow.

One of the highlights of the event will be an interactive session where students will be introduced to the concept of coding.

Topics that will be covered at the seminar include ‘ICT Skills and Jobs’, ‘Innovation and Creativity: Opportunities in ICT’, ‘My love for ICT’, and ‘Why I chose it as a Career’.

There will also be an exhibition featuring booths from selected ICT stakeholders, including Spectrum Management Authority, Ericsson, Digicel, Flow, UWI, UTech and OUR.

An initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Girls in ICT is a global effort to raise awareness of ICT, empowering and encouraging girls and young women to consider studies and careers in ICT. The initiative also aims to raise awareness among parents, teachers and other influences in girls’ lives.

Girls in ICT Day is observed worldwide on the fourth Thursday of April, as established by the ITU, and has been celebrated since 2010.