Girls in ICT Day 2018: Empowering Girls in the Digital Age, co-organized by ITU and European Commission

4/27/2018

Europe, Bulgaria, Sofia, Bulgaria

The joint ITU and European Commission celebration of Girls in ICT Day 2018 took place on 28 April 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria, coinciding with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The event was hosted by the University of National and World Economy in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications and Communications Regulation Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria. Event organization was also facilitated by EduTechFlag, Digital Europe, Digital National Alliance, Bulgarian Centre of Women in Technology, Coding Girls and Scientific Research Center for Business Competencies Development – Innovations and Competitiveness (u2b).

Bulgaria has one of the highest shares of female participation in the ICT sector in Europe. The occasion hence also served as an opportunity to discuss the reasons behind achieving higher share of female ICT specialists and identify Bulgarian best practices to be shared among other European countries. The event included two streams of program running in parallel, namely Role Model panel discussion targeted for the general audience and especially for the students of UNWE and other Universities in Sofia, and workshops organized for 60 local school girls between the ages 12-15. Altogether the event had over 250 attendees, including students, representatives of government, private sector, civil society, and Academia.

60 school girls aged between 12 – 15 were invited to the event from the towns of Varshetz, Kyustendil and Panagyurishte. The programme for girls consisted of three different ICT workshops and speed mentoring. Furthermore, all girls had the chance to test a demo of Virtual Reality. In the workshops, the girls received materials to continue their exercises at home. 

More information available here: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regional-Presence/Europe/Pages/Events/2018/GinICT/Girls_in_ICT.aspx

Photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/sets/72157694654151701