| Project: | Empowering Women in Tech |
| Term: | June 2018-May 2019 / Extended till July 2020 |
| Budget: | Budget: USD 130,340 (MDL 2,148,015.00) Extended with: USD 100,000 |
| Donor: | UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) |
| Goal: | To mainstream a gender perspective and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies |
Objectives:
- Mainstream gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies (ICTs);
- Build awareness that ICTs are tools that enable gender equality and women’s empowerment, and are integral to the creation of societies in which both women and men can substantively contribute and participate.
Target group: Women and girls from different regions, including from under-represented groups.
Background of the project
With an experience of 12 years, National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC), located in Chișinău, is committed to raise the competitiveness of the ICT sector through a large range of interventions and initiatives. The association aims at developing the human capital for ICT, supporting the tech entrepreneurship and development of innovative products and services, strengthening the market and promoting the local IT services and products. Since 2014, ATIC has actively promoted women in tech, by launching the annual “Women in ICT” event and supporting a series of initiatives to encourage young women and girls to pursue a career in tech, such as Technovation Challenge, Rails Girls, GirlsGoIT.
Description of the project
- Tech Women Courses (online/offline). Following a year of piloting of National program in IT for girls and women, which had a great success among women, the extension period will continue education and training of 300 women in different IT domains (digital education, front end web development, Java, Graphic Designer, soft.
- ICT Career Orientation and Promotion for girls and women envisages organization of events and PR campaigns. The proposed activity is a part of a major priority plan of ATIC, which aims on building the image of the ICT industry and encourage girls and women to choose a career in ICT. During upcoming year, the activities, which have been organized in spring 2019 will be further developed and replicated in different localities. The sessions will offer information on IT roles, relevant for career studies, advantages and strengths of a career in IT, premises and requirements for a successful career and other useful details to be aware of in case of considering a job in the IT industry.
- Monitoring and support to 50 girls and women, who benefited of IT scholarships (Java, SQL, Cisco). ATIC will continue monitoring of career path of those who benefited from the scholarship, studying Java, SQL and Networking & Cyber Security. The participants will be invited to Tekwill to hold a discussion about support they might need in finding job opportunities or apply for an internship in one of the ICT companies.
2019 Results:
- 500 women finalized the course on FrontEnd Development, 200 participated in bootcamps, 20 women have been employed in IT companies (Edition 1).
- 8 Orientation sessions for girls from all around the country (6 in spring, 2 in autumn) – 600 girls informed about IT professions and opportunities to study IT.
- Promo-campaign about successful women in IT: 5 success stories distributed in media Tech Women Summit with participation of over 300 girls and women.
- Over 1000 women registered for 2nd edition of National IT Program for girls and women (Front End Development, Software Tester, Digital Skills).
- Over 30 (out of 50) girls and women, who got IT scholarships (Java, SQL, Cisco) followed an internship program, found a job in IT or have been promoted due to improved skills.