April 5th, 2024 – This year, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) Dominica is championing female students aged 9 – 12 for Girls in ICT Day with a nationwide App Development challenge. Girls in ICT Day, which will be celebrated on April 25th, 2024, has been designated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to encourage girls and young women to pursue education and careers in ICT.
As part of the activities leading up to Girls in ICT Day 2024, the NTRC has provided teacher development training and resources to twenty-seven (27) primary school educators to empower them in assisting their students in developing mobile applications for submission to the competition. Students will use the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) App Inventor to create their apps. Video demos of the apps will be posted to NTRC’s Facebook page where the general public is invited to “like” their favorite apps from April 16th to 20th. The NTRC will award prizes to the top three (3) fan favorites. Meanwhile, a judged segment will determine the Most Creative, Innovative and Functional apps. To vote on your favourite app in this year’s competition, follow facebook.com/ntrcdom. Prize winners will be announced on April 23rd, 2024, via Facebook Live.
Additionally, the NTRC has partnered with some of the top businesses in the technology sector to host educational tours. Budding computer scientists from schools around the country will get an inside look at real-world applications of technology and potential careers on Girls in ICT Day. Flow, Digicel, Open Solutions and Pickaat are among the numerous industry partners who are opening their doors to participating students and their teachers.
The NTRC has also launched a Girls in ICT Day TikTok challenge that leverages the trending “I am a…, of course I…” trend. This challenge, which is open to females of all ages, is intended to not only highlight the experiences of girls and women who have pursued ICT education and careers, but to break stereotypes about women in the field. To enter, you may submit your video via NTRC’s webpage using the link: http://ntrcdominica.dm/girlsinictday. The deadline for submission to the TikTok challenge is April 20th, 2024.
The Girls in ICT awards ceremony will be held on Friday, April 26th, at the NTRC Second Annual Tech Expo, an exhibition of high school students’ physical computing solutions to real-world problems, at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium. “We launched the first Expo with the hope that we could encourage more secondary students to be interested in ICT,” says Mr. Craig Nesty, the NTRC’s Executive Director. “This year, with the incorporation of Girls in ICT Day, we were able to work with the primary schools. All the students will benefit greatly from being in the presence of the nation’s top tech industry professionals. I hope to see a lot of interaction between the two groups.”
The Girls in ICT teams awarded Most Creative, Most Innovative and Most Functional will be on-site to demo their winning apps to patrons. The Tech Expo, which will run from 9am to 5pm, is open to the public and free of charge. For more information on Girls in ICT Day Dominica, visit ntrcdominica.dm/girlsinictday or contact Rashida Serrant-Davis at 767-315-7919.
