From Challenges to Triumphs: Girls in Kosovo Embrace the Digital World

On April 27th IPKO Foundation together with RIT Kosovo (A.U.K) and Women in Tech Kosovo collaborated to mark the Girls in ICT Day with a series of successful activities. The event was part of the Girls in ICT Week initiative, with the purpose of promoting the involvement of young women and girls in the technology sector in Kosovo, under the patronage of the Municipality of Prishtina and Girls in ICT Kosovo.

The Conference included a series of speeches, a panel discussion, workshops, and a job fair. The conference was an excellent opportunity for young women to be inspired by successful female professionals, network with industry experts, and gain valuable knowledge and skills in the technology sector.

The day began with welcoming remarks from the Executive Director of IPKO Foundation, Ms. Abetare Gojani, who emphasized that we must "continue to work together and strengthen the role of girls and women in the technology sector every day."

The girls had the opportunity to be inspired by the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Pristina, Donjeta Sahatçiu, who said: "If you get a base today, get informed, create networking, be trained, and use technology in your life today, tomorrow you are able to be more productive, more powerful economically, and manage to be profiled in something that still does not exist today".

On the other hand, the Associate Dean of Faculty and Assistant Professor at RIT Kosovo (A.U.K), Ms. Venera Demukaj, mentioned the many initiatives they are undertaking to inspire girls to join the ICT sector. She added that even though we as a society are making progress with statistics, we still have a long way to go to close the gap of women in tech.

The keynote speaker of the Conference “Girls in ICT 2023” was Annea Futko - Mechatronics and Robotics Engineer. Ms. Futko came from Prague to share her journey in the field of technology, where the young women and girls received a dose of inspiration from the challenges she overcame as a woman in the field and the success she shared from her studies abroad. As she quotes: "If you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. There will be challenges every step of the way, but that doesn't mean you can’t overcome them. Everyone has their own way of overcoming these challenges and we are here today to make that path easier.”

The conference continued with the panel discussion "Demystifying Artificial Intelligence," moderated by the Ambassador of Women in Tech Kosovo, Teuta Sahatqija. The panelists, Ermal Sadiku, an entrepreneur and successful engineer at the same time Chairman of the Board of STIKK, and Alma Fazliu, a Data Scientist, provided interesting insights into artificial intelligence that everyone uses AI even if they are not aware of it. The panel concluded that people who do not know AI will be replaced by people who know AI, and not by AI itself.

The rest of the day continued with workshops organized by A.U.K TDI, such as: "Military Operations", "Cybersecurity" and "GIS [Geographic Information System]", where certificates were distributed to dozens of the girls who participated. The workshops were designed under the theme “Digital Skills for Life”, where the girls got the chance to advance their skills.

Another important activity of the “Girls in ICT” day was the Job Fair, with 17+ prestigious companies from Kosovo in the field of Communication, Information, and Technology, where the young women and girls interested in internships in such fields had the opportunity to kickstart their careers in technology.

The event ended successfully, serving as a reminder that young women and girls should be included in such activities that advance their careers in the digital world, not only during the Girls in ICT Week but every day of the year, creating equal opportunities, emphasizing the importance of including them in decision-making roles in ICT, as well as make sure that women remain part of the tech world.

ALBUM PHOTO