The digital footprint of women – together in tech and science!

Each year, on February 11, the world marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This day is dedicated to recognizing the critical role women and girls play in science and technology and promoting full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls. This day also serves to encourage governments, educational institutions, and the private sector to recognize the talents of women and girls in these fields. The goal is to ensure that women and girls have the same opportunities, access to resources, and support to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This year’s main focus of the day is to put science, technology, and innovation at the heart of sustainable development programs, international relations, and public and private sector strategies and implementation plans.

As the tech industry is growing day by day, it is our main concern to give equal opportunities and reach those that are excluded. Our primary objective is to create a space where inclusion is achieved through technology innovations, especially for the underrepresented women and young girls in STEM.

This underrepresentation leads to a gap between the desired inclusivity of women in science and technology and the number of women present in company leadership and technical roles in tech industries.

To close this gap, IPKO Foundation joins the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science theme - bringing communities forward for sustainable and equitable development. 

IPKO Foundation, with its mission, works daily to support ideas that bring inclusive development, creating an environment where technological innovation drives the just and sustainable social and economic development of Kosovo, with a higher focus on young women and girls. 

To support efforts and initiatives to empower women within STEAM, together with BONEVET Kosova and KML Open, we brought the Robotics Competition Special Round within DOKU.TECH in 2021, with more than 327 girls. Even in 2022, from around 950 participants in DOKU.TECH 53% of them were women. 

Besides DOKU.TECH, one of the many highlights of the former year, is the conference - Girls in ICT, implemented by IPKO Foundation in cooperation with A.U.K - Training and Development Institute. The young girls and women who attended the conference were inspired and empowered to participate in the tech industry and seek careers in technology. From the last edition, based on the job fair, 17.64% of young women and girls successfully got employed in full-time positions, and 23.54% of them won internships with companies in the tech field. 

IPKO Foundation recognizes that the first step to making a change is to facilitate spaces and provide equal participation and leadership of women and girls in the science and technology communities.

Join the world in marking the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance. Sustain.