More Girls Urged to Get Involved in ICT

Senior Financial Markets Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Navita Anganu-Ramroop, is encouraging more of the country’s young women to get into the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.

She said the technology sector offers exciting career paths, in which they can “discover, use and leverage their talents, fulfil their potential, solve problems in their communities, their country or the globe, thereby improving lives”.

Mrs. Anganu-Ramroop, who was addressing a Girls in ICT Day event held recently at The Jamaica Pegasus, New Kingston, noted that the technology field offers opportunities for women to significantly boost their earnings.

She said it is important for women to have access to training and economic opportunities. “Data (have) shown that when you educate and empower women and girls you uplift an entire family, community and country,” she pointed out.

This is especially important for Jamaica, she said, as “more than half of the households in Jamaica are headed by single-parent females”.

Mrs. Anganu-Ramroop noted further that women account for 66 per cent of the global workforce, but earn only 10 per cent of the income.

“The digital gap is particularly substantial in less-developed countries by as much as 31 per cent between men and women in accessing the Internet and broadband facilities,” she pointed out.
Girls in ICT Day is an initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and is observed annually on the last Thursday in April.

More than 240,000 ICT events were held in 160 countries to mark the day.

The event in Jamaica was spearheaded by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), in collaboration with other partners, including the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET).

Director General at the OUR, Ansord Hewitt, said “the day represents a global effort to empower and encourage women and girls to consider studies and careers in this area (ICT), as well as to encourage gender balance in the ICT sector, at all levels of the profession”.