AUA Hosts the International Girls in ICT Day

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On April 26, 2019, the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted the International Girls in ICT Day event, celebrated on the fourth day of the fourth week of the fourth month every year. The event is backed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and has been celebrated in Armenia since 2012 thanks to the efforts of the Women and Information Society NGO. It aims to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of ICT.

In the frame of the celebration, “Expand Horizons, Change Attitudes” forum was held to encourage Armenian girls from Yerevan and different marzes of Armenia to choose a career in information and communication technologies.

During the event, Dr. Aram Hajian, Dean of the Akian College of Science and Engineering (CSE), stressed the importance of girls’ and young women’s involvement in the ICT sector – an industry vitally important for the future of the world and the country.

The attendees were enthralled to watch the video message from Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) for International Girls in ICT Day 2019.
Narine Abazian (ME IESM ’96), Head of the Women and Information Society, spoke about the projects implemented in Armenia by the NGO to raise girls’ and young women’s interest in this sector and to consider the field as having excellent career opportunities. She also underpinned the role and significance of the Technovation project implemented in Armenia for the previous three years.

This year, more than five hundred female students and mentors from Armenian schools have participated in the Technovation Armenia 2019 program; the world’s largest technology entrepreneurship competition for girls. During a 12-week training, they have learned four modules: coding, business, marketing, and presentation. Girls formed teams with five members, identified a problem in their community, developed a mobile app to provide solutions and to launch a startup. Fifty-one mobile applications have been developed by Armenian girls during the program.

The celebration of the International Girls in ICT Day is a good opportunity for young women to share the application they have developed with their peers, as well as to network and share the skills they acquired during app development.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.