Organisation advocates women participation in 4th industrial revolution 

The Convener of the Noble teens Africa, Princess Iphie, has stressed the need to encourage more women and girls to venture into ICT in order to play key role in the 4th Industrial Revolution 

To this end, her organisation has trained 50 teenage girls in various areas of ICT and had through the support of the United Nations Rescue Service empowered the girls with laptops each to enable them practise what they have learnt.

Speaking after the training to commemorate the 2021 International Girls in ICT day and presentation of the laptops to each of the participants in Abuja, Iphie, who noted that with technology playing key roles in career developments, learning tech skills at a young age would set girls up for economic independence adding that the jobs of the future will be driven by technology and innovation. 

“It is about an outreach infotainment to the teenagers. We believed so much that girls should go for IT not just because it is the in-thing, but because it is something that is so helpful for them if they want to be players in the new generation. They have to be IT compliant and to this, that is why we took our time, resources to really get this training done.

“It is not something Noble Teens Africa can do all alone, we have our strategic partners like NCC, UN Rescue Services, NigComSat and many more. The UN Rescue said they want to empower every girl child with laptops, to us it is a promise and the promise kept this day. ’’

With joint effort, Nigeria will be better for it and there will be players in the industry.” 

The convener, who noted that the some of the girls who participated in the training are already developing their own apps and websites, said: “From this, the world should be waiting for us, in one week, some of them were able to develop apps, they have started and they have started very well. They can now do website without going to spend money, they will make money from this and nobody will take advantage of them. This has opened them up and with the things they heard about child online when NCC came up and told them, protection it was in their own interest. Some just shared their experience on how they have being about being bullied, the choice is yours, pornography is there but if you make a positive choice you will have earn yourself a place, they are determined to go out there and go for IT.” 

Also speaking, the Global Chairman of the UN Rescue, Ambassador Steve Midilah, who donated the laptops, stated that the organisation intends to distribute 10 million laptops, 10 million desktops and over 20 million power banks to schools between now and 2030. 

Midilah observed that education is the key to liberating people from poverty, adding that with COVID-19, digital education has become more critical and ICT is a key to development. 

He said: “The convergence of ICT has made the world a global village and with telemedicine, doctors in Europe and America can collaborate with their counterparts in Nigeria and conduct a major surgery and that is what technology can do.”