National Frequency Management Unit Assistant Engineer Melissa Layne
Over the course of seven years, girls from a number of communities have benefited from International Communication Technology (ICT) and efforts made at changing the trajectory of the field to include more women.
In an interview with Guyana Times, Assistant Engineer Melissa Layne of the National Frequency Management Unit declared that the number of these girls currently stands at just over 1800.
Some persons have used their skillset to advance further into the Guyana Girls Code programme, to create databases and other programmes.
“In the past seven years, we have actually been able to reach over 1800 girls and exposed them to the potential benefits of tech. And in addition to that, we have been seeing programmes like the Guyana Girls Code initiative that are taking off from the ICT initiative,” Layne said.
According to her, girls are introduced to programming courses to develop their coding skills, which place them in a position to obtain a position in the field. The increased number of women also makes for a comfortable working environment. In the past, ICT had been seen as dominated by males.
“The girls are exposed to free programming classes, and they’re developing their coding skills, which make them an asset to any job market. We definitely feel that this will make women feel more comfortable in joining the field. We get responses that persons are considering it as a career choice, rather than before, when only the traditional things were being thought of,” Assistant Engineer Layne explained.
It is estimated that technological fields will grow in the future; but currently, they are seen as a lucrative opportunity if used to attract the needs of a wider audience. For this, women are encouraged to get onboard at an early age.
“We have girls from as young as 12 who have actually programmed applications. As we know, tech is one of the highest paying and fastest growing fields, so we definitely want more people, especially women, to take up jobs in this field,” Layne related.
Some persons have also entered the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) initiative using their knowledge to create robotics with specialised features.
Girls in ICT Day is usually observed every year on April 26 in all member countries and organisations of the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In Guyana, it is spearheaded by the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU).
Back in March, it was announced that 10 students would benefit from an ICT internship with local tech companies.
