More than 300 girls for ICT conference tomorrow
MORE than 300 students from 30 schools will participate in the Girls in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Day conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, tomorrow.
The event, which is being hosted by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, will be addressed by the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley; cybercrime consultant at the ministry, Dr Moniphia Hewling, and senior lecturer and head of gender studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dr Leith Dunn, among others.Dr Hewling told
JIS News that other women in the ICT industry will make motivational presentations to the girls in attendance, with the main objective of encouraging them to become creators of technology, and not just users.“As females, we tend to be the users of the technology, entering data, but we do not usually create the software, so we want to expose them to different aspects of IT, and let them know that women can do this,” she said.Other activities at the conference will include interactive workshops on animation; computer network set-up and cybersecurity as well as panel discussions.Dr Hewling said the ministry will also be showing, at its booth, Girls in ICT Day activities taking place in other parts of the world.Other booths at the event will include Flow, Digicel, the University of Technology, and UWI.Minister Wheatley will also attend a Girls in ICT Day Hackathon, another event being held in observance of the day at the Spanish Court Hotel, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. This event will be held simultaneously in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica.Dr Hewling said that the event is designed to create a dynamic environment where girls can engage in hands-on activities throughout the day, and is opened to interested schools.Girls in ICT Day is an initiative of the International Telecommunications Union, aimed at raising awareness of ICT technologies, empowering and encouraging girls and young women globally to consider studies and careers in the field.
