The Ministry of Information, Science, Telecommunications and Technology partnered with Create Caribbean Inc., Research Institute at the Dominica State College and other key stakeholders to host an event to recognize International Girls in ICT Day. 20 female students from nine primary schools in Dominica from Grade 5 and Grade 6 attended a workshop from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Girls in ICT Day.

The goal of the Girls in ICT Day workshop was to increase the number of girls in Dominica interested in Information Technology and other related fields. With the aim of increasing the number of girls and women studying Information Technology and Computer Science and working in jobs related to these fields, the workshop was one of Dominica’s contributions to a larger international effort.

At the workshop, students listened to a few words of motivation and inspiration from women working within the ICT sector, after which they learned basic coding, particularly on web page building and design. After a tutorial session on basic skills, students applied the skills by building their own web pages, which focused on a topic related to social awareness and improvement. A prize awarded for the best web page in each social awareness category.

We believe that through our efforts more girls may want to enter the information technology and computer science fields, which are currently male-dominated fields.

Other activities leading up to the day were panel discussions, live radio and television interviews with women in the field.