ITU Regional Office for CIS Region: Regional Conference Dedicated to the International Girls in ICT Day

4/22/2019

CIS, Russia, Moscow, Russia

The ITU Regional Office for CIS organized in Moscow a conference dedicated to the Girls in ICT Day on 22 April. The event gathered together 36 participants representing communication administrations, ICT-specialized universities, public organizations, telecommunication companies and research institutions from 7 countries, as well as regional organizations and UNESCO IITE. Among others, the conference discussed the issue of ICT-specialized education for school children, especially for girls, which is already taking its shape in some projects to be implemented in region in 2019. Active remote participation in the discussion from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, and Ulyanovsk Region (Russia) was enabled through videoconference system.

Presentations delivered at the conference covered gender-related statistics from ICT industries of the participating countries, activities of the ICT-specialized universities aimed at encouraging girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, as well as success stories. In particular, statistical report of the Information Society and Digital Economics Statistics and Monitoring Centre at the Higher School of Economics was presented reflecting data from Russia on women’s use of and professional involvement in ICT (published at: https://issek.hse.ru/news/266806848.html).

The conference was completed by a roundtable, which discussed the issues, such as: professional trainings for women to promote them for management posts, as well as those aimed at maintenance of professional level while on maternity leave; creation by the ICT companies of conditions contributing to professional and personal growth of female staff (flexible working hours, teleworking, children’s room in the office).

Based on the roundtable discussions, the conference decided to maintain exchange of experiences and achievements using CIS website dedicated to the implementation of regional initiatives and special groups in social networks.