Baku, 6 November 2019
On 3rd November 2019 with support of the Innovation Agency under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Ministry of Education and Mingechevir city Municipality, the 5th traditional regional event was organized by the Azerbaijani Women’s in ICT – “FEMMES DIGITALES” Club and was held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Mingechevir, whose goal was to attract Azerbaijani girls to the field of information and communication technologies.
The regional conference was sponsored and supported by the companies and founders of Club such as Regional Innovative Public Association (RIPA), B.EST Solutions, Fominov Consulting, STEP IT Academy, Сybernet, MONT, Keepface, Resident of Mingechevir Hi-Tech Park HiTech Invest, Azerbaijan State Agency on Rendering Services to Citizens and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Bakinity Distribution.
The event, held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Mingachevir, was attended by more than 70 students from different schools of the city of Mingachevir and the surrounding areas. At the first part of event, mentors from the founders of Femmes Digitales Club conducted a training for girls, during which they explained what a startup is, the phases of its implementation, the choice of an idea and how to implement these innovative ideas using technology. After that, schoolgirls of the grouped teams determined which innovative project they would like to implement, and presented them to the audience. Most of the time was devoted to discussion of the possibilities of implementing the ideas and projects proposed by the participants of the event. According to the results of presentation, the jury determined the winners of the contest, whose projects were evaluated in terms of prospects for its future implementation and creativity. At the second stage of the program, mentors, with the support of STEP IT Academy, held classes in coding and robotics, where the participants reviewed the programming process.
All schoolgirls were awarded diplomas and souvenirs.
The primary task of holding such events by the Femmes Digitales Club is to popularize ICT among girls, provide information about opportunities for training and work, relaxed communication with leading women experts in this field, and change stereotypes. Historically, over 500 girls from various regions of Azerbaijan have already taken part in such regional events.
Participants of the Club “Azerbaijani Women in ICT – FEMMES DIGITALES” conduct all events on a charitable basis and with great enthusiasm. All participants of the project noted the huge potential of girls in the regions; high interest and positive feedback of schoolgirls are the main inspiration and reason for
participating in these projects. “Every visit to the region of Azerbaijan and meeting with schoolgirls inspires us, together with all Club members, to do everything possible so that every girl in the most remote corner of Azerbaijan has an access to innovation. Each of them is the present and future of Azerbaijan, innovative and progressive. Their shining eyes and happy faces are the main motivator for meeting them repeatedly. And for us, the main gift is positive letters and feedback from teachers and their parents “ said the founders of Femmes Digitales Club.
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About «Femmes Digitales»:
Azerbaijani women in the ICT club – “FEMMES DIGITALES” is a non-profit organization established in 2014 aiming to attract more women interested in ICT. AWIC “FEMMES DIGITALES” motivates women working in technology companies, as well as those who operate in other sectors, using technology in their work. The organization’s goal is to bring together interested parties from public and private sectors, academia and non-governmental organizations, by providing the opportunity to support for increasing the professional participation of women in the ICT sector, as well as participating in the development of technological and technical products. One of the Club’s main activities is to popularize IT in Azerbaijani regions among schoolgirls. http://www.femmesdigitales.az
