Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications organized competition for the best literary work entitled “The world of the technology and me” on the occasion of the International Girls in ICT Day.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information Society and Telecommunications, Vujica Lazović PhD, presented the awards to the authors of the best literary works at the official award ceremony, on April 23 2015.

DPM Lazović reminded the attendees of the fact that women, mathematicians, in the 1950s, while the computer science was still young, were those who wrote the first computer programs. Some of them were internationally recognized for their efforts. However, in the time the work and fame of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs took off, and the personal computers started to change the face of the world, the percent of girls who took up computer science was beginning to decline. Therefore, there is a huge deficit of workforce in the field of ICT – according to earlier predictions of the European Commission, there are 700.000 empty vacancies for ICT experts on European market in 2015. On the other hand, the expectations of the Commission are for 4.8 million people to be employed on jobs regarding development and marketing of applications by 2018.

In the introductory part, the Secretary of the Ministry, Sandra Veličković MSc, addressed the attendees, and referred to some of the names of the women who exquisitely contributed to the development of information-communication technology throughout history. She pointed out the fact that the students expressed knowledge of the this specific field, such as who created the first computer program and what represents power in the world of technology, as well as how important the knowledge is and how we are one click away from tearing down the barriers of space and time.

International Telecommunications Union member states traditionally mark Girls in ICT Day, on last Thursday in April every year, in order to connect young girls and women with information-communication technologies, to present the possibilities for employment in this field and to encourage them to consider the carrier in ICT.

Literary competition lasted from April 2 to April 15, and it was focused on girls who are on their final years of study in elementary and secondary schools in Montenegro.

In the category of elementary schools, Lidija Ćorić from elementary school „Braća Ribar“, Nikšić, won the 1^st place, Nevena Mujičić, elementary school „Vuk Karadžić“, Podgorica, the 2^nd, and Gordana Radulović, from elementary school „Sutjeska“, Podgorica, the 3^rd.

In the category of secondary schools, Milica Grbović, from high school „17. septembar“ in Žabljak, won the 1^st place, Marija Burić from high school „Vaso Aligrudić“, Podgorica, the 2^nd, and Irina Lakić, from high school „Slobodan Škerović“, Podgorica, the 3^rd.

The best 3 works in both categories won the following awards:

1^st place – laptop

2^nd place – tablet

3^rd place - smartphone

Laptops were donated by the companies S&T and PIN Montenegro, tablets were donated by the Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications, smartphones are donation from the company m:tel, while ECDL training and certificates are provided by the company ČIKOM.

All the awardees are granted free ECDL training and ECDL certificate, and the first awardee in the category of high schools is entitled to volunteer in one of the ICT companies which sponsored the competition.