Together with its project partners, HAKOM has celebrated the International Girls in ICT Day
PRESS RELEASE
The Republic of Croatia, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), through the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), and its partners in the project has celebrated the "International Girls in ICT Day " for the first time with a goal to promote the education and encourage the employment of young girls and women in the information communications technology.
Zagreb, 22, April, 2015 The celebration of the “International Girls in ICT Day” was held at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb,( FER) The most important happening was the Round table entitled ” Girls and women in Croatian ICT”-Two Sides of a Coin-, which was organized by Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) together with partners of the project, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and company Ericsson Nikola Tesla.
At the” International Girls in ICT Day” which brought together some prominent women at the leading positions in the ICT sector, as well as prominent experts and scientists, the discussions were held concerning the ICT sector generally, the role and position of women in the ICT sector in Croatia and the need for an increasing number of women to participate in the ICT sector where they are not represented enough.
The two introductory presentations showed the real proportion of young girls and women in the ICT sector starting with, how many of them enrol at the technical studies and later achieve their career goals. In the first introductory presentation entitled ”Female vs. Male Students /at FER Before & Today”, prof. Mirta Baranović, Phd, presented the statistics regarding the number of girls out of the total number of students at FER. Although there has been a constant growth in numbers of girls in that “male sector”, the proportion of female students is still considerably lower . The very title of the presentation ”There are few of us but we count” by Mrs. Mirjana Miholić(CROZ/Programerko) has shown how many women are at the moment involved in the ICT sector in Croatia.
The women who participated in the round table discussion, Mirta Baranović (FER), Gordana Kovačević (Ericsson), Vedrana Miholić (CROZ, Programerko), Ivana Matić (Women in Adria), Tanja Pušelj Ostroški (IN2) discussed about advantages and disadvantages of the career of women in ICT. Through an interaction with the audience, the participants answered the questions related to their employment decision to start their career in the ICT. They were interested in their experience, problems and challenges they were faced with as well.
The “International Girls in ICT Day” has been celebrated throughout the world since 2010.Over 111,000 girls and young women have taken part in more than 3,500 events held in 140 countries around the world so far. The organization was established by ITU and its role is to create global environment that empowers and encourages young girls to consider their career in information and communications technologies. Being an international initiative, it is celebrated throughout the world.
Within the framework of this initiative, HAKOM and its project partners organized the visit for high school and university students to the company Ericsson Nikola Tesla , where students had the opportunity to ask questions the Vice President of the company, Mrs. Gordana Kovačević. This visit has made a great contribution in encouraging young girls and women to consider their career in ICT sector in currently mostly” male sector”, although there has been a lack of experts all around the world.
Within the range of activities related to the celebration of “International Girls in ICT Day”, pupils and students have even visited the association “Programerko”. The association’s goal is to develop early ICT skills of preschool and primary school children.
The entire event and additional activities organized to celebrate the “International Girls in ICT day” have for its goal to change the perception of the ICT sector as a "male sector” and to encourage young women and girls to choose a career in the information and communications technologies.
On the occasion of International ICT day, HAKOM organized the visit for high school and university students to Ericsson Nikola Tesla
NEWS
Zagreb, 17, April, 2015 On the occasion of International ICT day, together with the partners on this project, ( the Faculty of electrical engineering and computing and Ericsson Nikola Tesla ), HAKOM organized a visit to the EricSson company for high school and university students (V.,X. , XV. Gymnasium and FER, TZ, FOI, PMF)
After having gathered in front of the main building, a group of students was accompanied by friendly hosts end warmly greeted by mr.sc. Gordana Kovačević , Ceo of Ericsson Nikola Tesla. Mrs Kovačević brought out some important information regarding the company and shared her own experience with the students regarding the professional career .The students were greatly interested in the presentation and openly asked some questions.
Some students were interested in the experience of Mrs Kovačević as a woman working in ICT sector while the others, those coming from the Faculty of electrical engineering and computing were interested in workshop called „Summer Camp Ericsson Nikola Tesla“, a workshop designed for students in their final year of bachelor’s studies.
However, in a five- week seminar, the participants are able to come together to the problem solution in real world conditions , the industrial surrounding and within the expected time.
It is planned to have the round table within a one-day programme ,entitled „Girls and women in Croatian ICT-sector“ which will be held at the Faculty of electrical engineering and computing, Grey Hall in April, 22, 2015., at 12 AM.
The main objective of this event is to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
