Young Women Urged to Access Opportunities in ICT

Minister with Responsibility for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, is urging young women to arm themselves with a computer and Internet access, in order to explore job opportunities in the lucrative global information communication technology (ICT) sector.

Addressing a World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2012 Exhibition, at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica Auditorium, in Kingston, on May 17, the Minister emphasised that with female unemployment in 2009 at over 27 per cent, young women must seek to embrace new and emerging opportunities in ICT.  

Alluding to the “new approach” to youth employment through Digital Jam 2.0, the Minister said that the Government is of the view that ICT offers huge potential benefits for the country’s youth, in particular, its women.

“Micro work is all about empowering our citizens through ICT. Essentially, all you need is a computer and the internet. It allows you to participate in the global market for short task-based work, where large tasks are divided up and then out-sourced on-line,” she observed.

The Minister informed that the micro-work market is estimated to reach several billion dollars within the next five years and that in the last five years, opportunities have also emerged in ‘e-lancing’ where young people offer their services via on-line portals.

She also directed attention to the concept of ‘crowd sourcing’, where persons can participate in finding collaborative solutions for large projects launched by large companies and other entities on-line.

“Jamaica is determined to actively participate in these new ICT spaces as we know that our people have unique skills and assets to profitably share with the world through this channel,” the Minister said.

The commemorative event was staged by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, under the theme: ‘Women and Girls in ICT’, and included a mini-exposition.

By Allan Brooks, JIS Senior Reporter