Girls In ICT Day Virtual Conference

Youth Can Do I.T. (YCDI), in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET), is hosting a free two-day virtual conference for female professionals, university and high-school student, in celebration of International Girls in ICT Day, beginning today (April 23).

“This will involve two days of keynote speakers, panel discussions and interactive workshops around the themes ‘Inclusion and Artificial Intelligence’, on day one and ‘Making Your Mark’, on day two,” Founder and Executive Director of Youth Can Do I.T., Lianne McNaughton, told JIS News.

Ms. McNaughton said that interested females can register by visiting the MSET website (www.mset.gov.jm) or Youth Can Do I.T. social media pages.

“The sessions are from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We will be teaching participants how to create a chatbot, introducing them to image recognition and machine learning. We intent to break down these topics and demystify them,” she explained.

Ms. McNaughton pointed out that initially the forum was scheduled to be face- to-face, but given the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the organisers opted for a virtual experience.

“I am truly grateful for the event sponsors – Microsoft, Incomex, MSET, One on One Educational Service Limited and the Jamaica Computer Society. It’s very important to have an event like this which creates a community to share stories about women impacting information and communications technology (ICT),” she said.