NFMU's Smart Tech Day

3/19/2019

The Americas, Guyana, Arthur Chung Conference Center, Guyana

The first event in observance of International Girls in ICT Day 2019 was held on the 19^th March, 2019 by the National Frequency Management Unit. The event dubbed “Smart Tech Day” focused on cyber security and targeted school girls ranging from 13 to 15 years of age from six schools in Georgetown.

Smart Tech Day took place at the Arthur Chung Conference Center and was attended by 24 school girls and six teachers. The schools which participated were St. Joseph’s High School, St. Roses’ High School, North Georgetown Secondary School, Tutorial High School, Brickdam High School and President’s College. The event was facilitated by representatives from the National Frequency Management Unit and the University of Guyana Computer Science Department.

Key areas focus for Smart Tech Day were finding a balance between digital and real life activities, protecting one’s privacy online and digital citizenship.

Both students and teachers expressed interest in learning about ways to protect their devices and maintaining their privacy online. The participants were exposed to hidden details in online privacy agreements, shown ways to create secure passwords, shown the securities vulnerabilities in “free” wifi networks and learnt about methods such as two factor authentication to secure their online accounts.

One notable outcome from interactions at the Smart Tech Day was that the students spent an average of six hours per day on their devices. It was because of this that the Finding Balance activities were successful. Students were taught ways of recognizing when they have spent too long on a device, strategies to “unplug” and methods of dealing with online stress.

The final major event for the day explained the concept of a digital citizen and how to create a good digital reputation. Students were given activities to show how their social media presence can affect them in the real world. It was interesting to note that the students had differing, yet valid views on what it is to be a digital citizen.

Participants were encouraged to create a poster based on any of the areas covered in the day’s sessions for display on International Girls in ICT Day. The students expressed enthusiasm to do this and further expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be part of Smart Tech Day. It was evident that they retained the knowledge imparted as they were able to answer quizzes, ask pertinent questions and even commented on the content delivered.