UNWE Hosted the Celebration of Girls in ICT Day 2018

The UNWE hosted the traditional celebration of Girls in ICT Day – a global initiative of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which aims to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider career in the growing field of ICTs.

In Maxima Aula

The youngest participants in the event

Welcome to the UNWE, began his greeting speech to the participants in the celebration of Girls in ICT Day 2018 the Rector Prof. D.Sc.(Econ.) Statty Stattev. The UNWE is a leader in the electronization of academic process implementation and management, outlined the Rector. 14 years ago the UNWE was the first university which started conducting electronic prospective student examinations. 7 years ago we incorporated also the electronic Main Book containing the information about each of our 22 000 students. From the beginning of the current academic year all our first year students have electronic Student Books – the first ones in the system of Bulgarian higher education, declared the Rector. So I think it is exclusively appropriate that the host of the traditional celebration of ICT Girls Day 2018 is the UNWE – the largest university in Bulgaria, the eldest and the most authoritative business university in Southeastern Europe, said Prof. Stattev and wished the event success.

Prof. D.Sc.(Econ.) Statty Stattev

The ICT sector will create over half a million jobs to 2020. If we succeed to close the gap between the men and women in the ICT sector the GDP will grow with 16 billion Euros per year. In Bulgaria we do not make difference between boys and girls, for us the most important thing is the professionalism, pointed out in her video greeting address to the participants in the event Iliana Yotova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Mrs. Iliana Yotova

Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) expressed his admiration for the UNWE and its numerous graduates occupying high managerial positions over the years and pointed out as an example the Wall of Fame at the university. He gave as an example also his colleagues who had graduated from the UNWE and among them were Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank. Mr. Zhao outlined that Bulgaria has one of the highest shares of female participation in the ICT sector.

Mr. Houlin Zhao

Today we are here to address an appeal not only to Europe but to the world to say how important it is for the women and girls to have full participation in the digital transformation we are experiencing, said Mrs. Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society and expressed her thankfulness to the Rector Prof. Stattev for the perfect organization of the event. For us he is an inspiring figure, added the European Commissioner. She expressed her proud of the fact that Bulgaria is a leading country in Europe for the participation of girls and women in the ICT sector – 30% in Bulgaria and 16% in the other European countries.

Mrs. Maria Gabriel

The celebration continued with discussion in which took part Mrs. Maria Gabriel, Mr. Houlin Zhao, Mr. Ivan Dimov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Mrs. Zornitsa Rusinova, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy and graduate of UNWE, Mrs. Sasha Bezuhanova, initiator and founder of MoveBG, Chairwoman of the Board of Junior Achievement Bulgaria, etc.

The UNWE was represented in the discussion by Prof. Dr. Kamelia Stefanova, Dean of the Applied Informatics and Statistics Faculty and Head of the Information Technologies and Communications Department.

Prof. Dr. Kamelia Stefanova

During the event girls between the ages of 12-16 took part in hands-on ICT workshops on programming, app development and virtual reality and had the opportunity to meet role models, etc. (in the pictures below).

The youngest girl-participant in the celebration

Prof. Statty Stattev and Mrs. Maria Gabriel with girls participants in the event

The girls obtained Certificates of participation in the event

The Rector declared that he would propose the Academic Council to recognize the Certificates as successful prospective student examination at the UNWE for the girls graduating school in the current and in the following year. Prof. Stattev invited the girls to take part in the National Applied Informatics and Statistics Competition organized by the UNWE.

The epistle by the Rector of UNWE (in the left corner above)

Contribution to the excellent implementation of the event have not only the organizers but also Assoc. Prof. Dr. Radko Radev, Director of the UNWE Scientific Research Center for Business Competencies Development “Innovations and Competitiveness” (u2b) as well as the Doctoral student Simeon Kolyandov (in the picture below).