According to Bekele, thanks to social media, women now surpass men in the use of ICT and have firmly moved away from seeing technology as that of a man's domain.
The internet, she said is being utilized more by women, where women are increasing their rights, representation, and participation.
Bekele said thanks to internet, women no longer have to go out to search for knowledge. “The internet has brought it right on your desktop. eg. is online - universities, e-commerce, e-tourism, e-governance and other online enabled resources”.
She urged young women to educate themselves with the tools of the future - ICT and internet to contribute to this fast, evolving and competitive, global landscape. “Getting educated in ICT is no longer nerdy, it is trendy”.
She said that as an entry point for increase use of ICT, girls should use their own smart devices such as mobile phones and applications built on it.
“Being an expert user is a starting point for Girls and women, less being a developer of apps. Second is the active use of social media tools and ways to use them to create value for yourself or the organizations you work for, for purposes of branding, marketing and global communications. The ICT sector clearly underpins this and many other developments in the future,” she said.
She also asked organizations that are building workforce to create a policy of diversity to hire, train, and develop girls and women in ICT and demanded that policy makers to mainstream gender involvement and advocacy in policy development and implementation.
Bekele said various credible international reports point out that Addis Ababa is one the fastest emerging cities now in the ranks of Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Rio de Janeiro with tech hubs like iceAddis and according to UNESCO's Education Report, Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) ranks the highest globally in government expenditure on education, at 18.7%.
The Girls in ICT initiative is an ITU global effort to raise awareness on empowering and encouraging girls and young women to consider studies and careers in ICTs. The initiative is committed to celebrate and commemorate the International Girls in ICT Day on the fourth Thursday of every April as established by the ITU membership.
The objective of the event is to create awareness among girls of the opportunities within the ICT industry. It is hoped that this event will also make girls see ICT as a career path and enter into the industry in the future.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Tadesse E.
Quelle/Source: Africa Science News Service, 25.04.2014
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