International Girls in ICT Day aims to inspire and encourage young women to explore career opportunities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects through a combination of talks from high-profile female industry leaders and interactive workshops. According to the ITU, over 357,000 girls have already taken part in 171 countries worldwide.

The GSMA is supporting ITU International Girls in ICT Day for a sixth year by launching its Tech4Girls programme globally through a series of events at its offices around the world in Atlanta, Barcelona, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Nairobi and Shanghai.  The GSMA’s participation underlines its commitment to helping to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 4 (Quality Education).

The GSMA will host a wide variety of activities as well as feature high-profile guest speakers from well-known companies within the tech and mobile industries. The activities are designed to provide female students an overview of mobile technologies such as the Internet of Things, a sense of accomplishment through learning as well as an understanding of the diverse skills required to join and shape the workforce of tomorrow. Activities across some of GSMA’s global offices include:

• Atlanta: GSMA North America will partner with The Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) and Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) to host a two-day series of Google Home workshops
• Barcelona: In collaboration with CaixaBank, Telefonica and Mobile World Capital Barcelona, female students will be invited to learn the basics of music programming to create their own ringtone and hear from Laura Fernández, CEO & Co-Fouder of AllWomen.tech
• Buenos Aires: Alongside inspirational talks, young women will receive a LinkedIn capacity workshop delivered by a specialist on how to use LinkedIn and be prepared to enter the job market
• London: Female students from the Hurlingham Academy will be invited for a tour of the GSMA Headquarters and introduced to GSMA programmes including CaseForChange, Connected Women, IoT and Tech4Girls. On a separate day, the students will learn how to build mobile apps using the MIT App Inventor in a hands-on session

The GSMA’s activities fall under its own Tech4Girls’ programme, which launched in 2018 in the US followed by Argentina. More than 100 girls between the ages of 7-18 years old have participated in building their own technology devices. GSMA Tech4Girls invites participants from underserved communities and local schools at quarterly workshops with the aim to teach them core technical skills as well as expose them to role models and mentors in the mobile and technology sectors.

In an interview, Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, Head of GSMA North America shared insight into the GSMA’s expansion of its Tech4Girls programme globally and details of activities that young female students have the opportunity to participate in at a typical Tech4Girls workshop, including building their own computer, a Google Home device and more.

Watch the full video here:

Reducing the Gender Gap 

GSMA Tech4Girls is part of the GSMA Women4Tech Programme umbrella that aims to reduce the gender gap by focusing on quality education, gender equality and through exposure to technology early in life. GSMA Women4Tech offers different touchpoints for women throughout their careers through dedicated initiatives as well as development and networking opportunities. The programme includes GSMA Tech4Girls as well as Women4Tech RIG, a regional interest group for women in the industry and Women4Tech C-Level for C-Suite level executives.

Follow the GSMA on Twitter @GSMA to follow all the activities in support of Girls in ICT Day 2019 and join the conversation using #GSMATech4Girls.