25 April 2024

Did you know that every second manager in Belarus is a woman? 

On International Girls in ICT Day we decided to take a glance at how things are going in the IT sphere, the leadership in which is traditionally attributed to the male half of humanity.

International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of April at the initiative of the International Telecommunication Union. The main goal is to show girls and young women the prospects for professional growth in the field of information and communication technologies. 

This year the theme of the celebration is “Leadership” in order to highlight the importance of strong female role models in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Although women now occupy 40 per cent of high-skilled positions worldwide, according to the ITU, their participation is still rated as low in such ICT fields as software development, engineering, technology research, academia, etc. 

To succeed in STEM, it is important for girls and young women to feel leadership and support from the IT ladies who have already achieved a lot in this field. Such partnership helps to overcome psychological barriers and societal stereotypes and inspires female representatives to start their way in ICT.

In Hi-Tech Park today, more than 15% of companies are headed by women, and among IT and high-tech specialists ladies comprise about 40% of the total number. Mainly women are responsible for training the future succession of IT specialists in Belarus. A vivid example of this is the project "Informatics without a socket", jointly implemented by Hi-Tech Park and the Ministry of Education of Belarus.

The IT ladies, who are at the helm of successfull businesses and challenging projects, highlight the important role of women in the development of Belarusian IT community, creation of innovative products and useful services for the digitalisation of our country's economic sectors. They are also setting good examples for girls and young women who want to enter the IT sphere.