Up to 200 teenage girls from across the country were eager to learn about the opportunities to be attained from pursuing careers in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) on Thursday.

The students, who were from institutions including Hampton School, St Hugh’s High School, Central High School, Wolmer’s Girls’ School, and York Castle High School, were a part of Flow Jamaica’s Girls in ICT Day Expo at the AC Hotel in Kingston, held under the theme: “Digital Skills for Life.”

They engaged in a slew of activities including a coding challenge, presentations at exhibitions and received an address from senior product manager at Google Natalie Bennett.

Some of the girls did not hesitate to share their knowledge of ICT and the careers they wanted to pursue.

“I want to become a software developer. I feel like we should pursue careers in ICT now since it is evolving and the world is heading into a technological era. I would have known facts about ICT but coming here, I am hoping to learn new things because more knowledge is never a bad thing,” said Tejaunae Shelly, who is a fourth-form student at York Castle High School in St Ann.

Michaela Gibbs, a fourth-form student at Wolmer’s Girls’ School, was just as enthused.

“What makes it interesting is the fact that I get to learn more about technology and information and how people can communicate with technology, and I think it is very interesting because technology is very diverse and you can do a lot of things with it,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Her colleague, Patrina Chisholm, who is also in fourth form, said she will probably change her career choice after gaining more interest in ICT.

“I have an interest in Python programming. I really like the idea to create things. It would be really great,” she said.

“I do biology, chemistry and physics so I am really into science and IT. I wanted to be a marine biologist at first, but I really like the information field, so I might change my career path to an engineer or coder due to how everything is developing,” she added.

Meanwhile Kayla-Ashley Allen, a student at St Hugh’s High, said she is hoping to expand her knowledge about job opportunities in the field.

“I wanted to network mostly, but I am hoping to learn about more careers in ICT. I was always interested in designing web pages and when I think of ICT that’s all that comes to mind, so I was hoping it expands as I learn about different opportunities,” she said.

At the same time, Azzania Chitsapi, who is also from St Hugh’s High, added, “I am new to everything, but my mom was telling me ICT involves coding and creating new apps and I really took an interest in those, so I am here to learn a little more about that.”

Noting that having only 17 per cent of his employees engaged in the ICT department at his organisation is a big challenge, Flow Vice-President and General Manager Stephen Price encouraged the students to get involved in the field.

“You ladies must see yourselves as power brokers in the ICT space. This is the future. Yes, having the skills to use in information and technology is important, but it is even more important to develop the skills to create the technologies,” Price told the students.

At the same time, Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz said efforts must be made to prepare and empower youth with the necessary digital knowledge and skills to thrive in the technology field.

“Our priority is to ensure that all of you can take full advantage of the digital tools available so you succeed in your chosen careers. Only by doing so can we modernise Jamaica’s workforce and create a functional digital ecosystem for our country,” he said.