Pacific Internet Society hosts First Pacific Women in ICT Virtual Meetup

A report by Carole Cholai

Recently a separate mailing list was put together to capture the women subscribed to the Pacific Internet Society Mailing list which now forms the Pacific Women in ICT mailing list. An online registration form was shared amongst the group and online networks which 67 women registered to attend the 1st Virtual meet. From the 67 women who registered for the event, at most there were close to 33 that attended the meeting. Some joined in later and others had to leave earlier.

There were two main agendas for the meeting:

• Brief 2 min introduction of each of the women
• Update from each country present on who COVID-19 has impacted their country and operations and how they were able to handle situations in respect to their organisation and their role in ICT.

An interesting round of introductions with women present from Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Nauru, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Samoa each representing also various sectors in National Government entities, NGO’s , global organizations, Academic, Corporate and social enterprises. ICT professions and line of work included cybersecurity, ICT policy, academic staff, IT Analysts, ICT support, web and internet affordability and connectivity and ICT learning programs.

• 

COVID impacts included the use of online collaboration tools for their organisations, some had to be involved in training their staff on how to use Zoom, provide support for remote workers (working from home), cut down on specific ICT programs.,.

Many expressed appreciation of having the e-meeting organised and looked forward to the next one.

Some other interesting points picked up during the introductions:

• Many of the women were either single female in their team
• There is a lack of ICT research identified throughout the Pacific and there is a need for more focus in this area
• Many have started or are part of initiatives to promote girls or women in ICT
• A need for more networking and sharing with other Pacific women in ICT

Thank you to PICISOC and those taking lead in organising the first online event.

You can view a recording of the event here.

Source: PNG ICT Meri
Link: https://pngictmeri-wordpress-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/pngictmeri.wordpress.com/2020/09/24/pacific-internet-society-hosts-first-pacific-women-in-ict-virtual-meetup/amp/?fbclid=IwAR2pq9o40eCsAju5gttCQRbdX-WEof6Dx5rmCa2DNt8XI92yB11RZMZJx48