Press Release: Lagos Nigeria, April 26th
The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (WTEC), partnered with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) -Lagos in conjunction with United Nations Women – Nigeria, to host school girls and ladies for an interactive forum to mark 2019 International Girls in ICT Day at the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Ikoyi -Lagos on April 25th 2019.
The International Girls in ICT Day is an initiative backed by all International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Member States in ITU Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Rev. Dubai, 2018), which aims to encourage and empower girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.
The International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of April in which all ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academia are urged to organize events attracting as many girls and young women as possible.
Furthermore the ITU estimates that within the next 10 years, there will be more than two million technology jobs that cannot be filled because of a lack of digital specialists. It further pointed out that girls and young women who learn coding, app development and computer science will be well-placed for a successful career in the ICT sector. Thus based on this consideration, the aim of the event, organised by W.TEC was to bring together; Nigerian school girls, aspiring ladies and leading women in tech, for an impactful forum to exchange ideas and experiences to help inspire a new generation of Nigerian girls to explore the exciting opportunities offered by careers in information and communication technology (ICT).
Participants of the event (secondary school girl from both public and private schools and tech undergraduates) were treated to insightful tech speeches, panellist discussion sessions, short films on women in technology, technology project presentations by students, tech exhibition by students and a Q & A session.
The event opened with a welcome address delivered by Ronald Kayanja, the Director of UNIC – Lagos. Followed by opening remarks by Folashade Braimoh the Programme Manager of W.TEC. While the recognition of invited dignitaries was done by Bolanle Olumekor, the Knowledge Management Assistant at UNIC – Lagos.
The keynote address for the event was by Comfort Lamptey, the Director – UN Women Nigeria. She was represented at the event by Obiananma Agbim who delivered her speech tagged”Expanding Horizons and Changing Attitudes to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide for Sustainable Development”.
The first panellist session: “Gender Equality in Digital Access, Skills and Leadership” featured, Chidiogo Victor-Willie, Software Enterprise Licensing & Compliance Manager at Oracle with Eduabasi Essien, Partner Development Manager at Microsoft while the second the second panellist session of the event “Think Equal: Women Rising in Technology Careers” moderated by Folashade Braimoh, Programme Manager at W.TEC featured Bisi Osibogun, Sales Development Specialist – Baker Hughes, GE – Simbo Olatoregun, Product Marketing Manager SSA, Grow with Google – Google Nigeria – Sefunmi Fadahunsi, Oracle Academy Programme Manager, Sub Saharan Africa – Oracle.
These sessions were followed by Short films on Women in Technology by the ITU, Technology Project Presentation by alumni Students of W.TEC programs.
The event was officially closed by Bolanle Olumekor, the Knowledge Management Assistant of UNIC – Lagos, who urged participants to be very ready for opportunities to take advantage of to move ahead in the game. She congratulated the participants for their active participation and thanked all event partners; UN Women-Nigeria, W.TEC, invited speakers and other supports who contributed to making the day a huge success.
For further information, please contact:
Adeyemi Odutola (Communication Officer – W.TEC),
Phone: +234 809 698 7541 Email: info@wtec.org.ng
Website: www.wtec.org.ng
Twitter: @wteconline
Facebook: @wteconlinepage
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