Leading sectorial ICT firms Systemspecs, Vodacom Business Nigeria,
New Horizons and VDT Communications have signed up to be part of the
forthcoming 7th Edition of the International Girls in ICT Day
Celebration being organised by eBusiness Life Communication Limited, publishers
of eBusiness Life Magazine in Lagos, Nigeria, reports ITRealms.
The event which is scheduled to hold on May 3,
2018 in the Ballroom of the Oriental Hotel in Lekki,
is part of a global campaign to encourage young girls to delve into ICT as a
profession and contribute their quota to the growth of the industry in Nigeria
while also actualising self-development.
International Girls’ in ICT Day is an initiative launched through ITU
Resolution 70 with the idea of creating a global environment that will empower
and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of
information and communication technologies.
In the past six years, eBusiness Life had organised the event annually
in Nigeria, gathering young girls from different schools, to educate and
sensitize them on the opportunities inherent in a profession in ICT. Also the
girls had been made to go through hands-on training on various aspects of ICT
and facility visits to ICT companies to get a firsthand experience of the
intricacies of the ICT firms.
Systemspecs, with its flagship solution, Remita has been able to
transform the epayment arena in Nigeria, becoming a top choice for remittance of
funds both in the private and public sectors of the economy. The company’s
support for the campaign is stemmed on its belief in global competitiveness
through manpower development.
Vodacom Business Nigeria is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vodacom Group
and leading pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications provider
that has brought affordable and reliable connectivity to Africa since 1992.
A statement from VDT Communications, which operates a Modular Trainee
Engineering Program through which it trains engineering graduates annually,
notes that the quest to train young Nigerians is to increase their
employability in the industry, especially young girls.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of eBusiness Life Communication
and convener of the event, Mrs. Ufuoma Emuophedaro, , the need to sensitise
young girls is premised on the fact that the society has unconsciously
relegated the female gender and delegated careers in technical fields,
especially in ICT, to their male counterparts.
She noted that efforts should be made to introduce young girls to career
opportunities in technical fields in both the public and private sectors to help
them have a wide range of options and contribute their quota in the industry.
Mrs Emuophedaro further stated that the International Girls in ICT Day
celebration and subsequent campaign will further open up opportunities for
girls in the ICT sector.
A statement from the ITU indicates that ICTs drive growth and innovation
worldwide, infiltrating all aspects of human lives. The statement goes on to
harp on the need the dire need to groom young people to plug a deficient ICT
future: “These ongoing advances in ICTs effectively make digital literacy a
prerequisite for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and are leading
to a projected shortage of at least 2 million ICT employees worldwide by 2020.
Studies show that not enough young people are choosing careers in ICT -
especially not enough young women. Expanding the global technology talent pool
to include more women with ICT skills can help fill this gap. This means
investing in girls and young women today.“
Speaking further, Mrs. Emuophedaro noted that supporting the global
Girls in ICT movement empowers girls and young women, giving them the
confidence to pursue ICT studies and careers. “Girls and young women have the
potential not only to become ICT users, but also to become ICT creators.“
As part of the 2018 event, there will be Coding training at New
Horizons, Nigeria and competitions among students from select secondary
schools, roundtable discussion, interactive and motivational talk from renowned
women ICT professionals, among others.
The campaign will see young girls take part in facility tours to ICT
facilities; participate in seminars that promote ICT development and undergo
trainings in ICT.
At the end of the event, it is expected that young girls and students
should be able to introspect and pursue any desired career path in ICT without
bias, or gender consciousness.
Awards will also be given to deserving female ICT practitioners will
form part of the celebration.
Partnership for the event had also been drawn from the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), the Ministry of Communications Technology and
the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Ministry
of Communications.
e-Business Life Magazine is a monthly Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Magazine incorporated to bring better information that would
link users and service providers as well as enable Nigeria take its pride of
place among the comity of nations in the new global economy.
The mission at e-Business Life Magazine is to inform and educate ICT
users on trends and developments both locally and internationally; to provide a
platform on which to build ICTs in a Nigeria and also to be a voice for ICT
consumers in the country. In addition we are poised to create a world where
Nigerian youths have a better understanding of modern technologies and can
easily deploy these technologies in developing their communities.
Uj. N. Dominic/ED, Ops
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