Girls in ICT Day Malaysia 2021 – Embolden Girls to Brighter Future
Little girls with dreams will become women with vision. In spawning the impassioned dreams of our little angels, Malaysia under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia buckles down their shot to embolden girls and young women to take part in Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) related field by organising Girls in ICT Day Malaysia 2021 (MYGICT21) conjointly with Special 10th Anniversary Celebration of International Girls in ICT Day with its theme "Connecting Girls, Creating brighter future" led by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Malaysia intends to embolden girls to participate in ICT, contribute to gender mainstreaming, and subsequently promote gender equality, especially in ICT-related fields. By the same token, Malaysia aims to quell misconception about ICT related field and foster a more dynamic technology sector, posing more extensive benefits to company or organisation, especially during this unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
Leasing knowledge, expertise and resources through partnership
The event was co-organised by the respective associates and corporate partners in particular Malaysia Digital Economy and Corporation (MDEC), the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM), Microsoft Malaysia, Axiata, Internet Society, Gorgeous Geeks and Social & Economic Research Initiative (SERI). The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia believes that in organising MYGICT21, the principle of strategic partnership is crucial to leasing knowledge, expertise and resources from fellow counterparts. This year, despite the alarming rate of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, the stakeholders are committed to executing MYGICT21 virtually.
Events include coding workshops and competitions in particular Hour of Code: #MYGirlsCan, Axiata Virtual Girls Coding Challenge 2021, TechGirls Camp 2021: Promoting ICT to Young Girls from Rural Schools in Kedah, Axiata Virtual Girls Coding Challenge 2021, and Digigirlz/ STEMSheros geared towards enhancing girls mastery and proficiency in coding and programming. Besides, webinars such as Chat Session #MYGIRLSCAN, Career in ICT Live Dialogue & AR Workshop, Empowering Your Mindset with Cyber Ethics and 'Wanita, Remaja, Dan ICT: Akses Kepada Masa Depan Yang Cerah' were held to set forth clear insights in regards with women, ICT and STEM-related field.
The Plenary and Launching Ceremony of MYGICT21
The plenary and launching ceremony of MYGICT21, which was held virtually via zoom meeting on 22nd April 2021, was officiated by H.E Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad bin Mentek, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia. Key supporters of the event include International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), and CISCO.
The virtual celebration was attended by nearly 350 primary and secondary students and teachers representing different student-teachers demographics across Malaysia. To kick start the event, Ms Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand, delivered her opening remarks by addressing how ITU underpins the mandates to connect the unconnected by 2030 and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. ITU helps develop and enable communication and ICT policies, strengthen capacities and ensure digital inclusion and empowerment. She wished to thank the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia as the co-host of the Plenary and Launching Ceremony of Girls in ICT Day Malaysia 2021 and the United Nations Resident's Coordinator office in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam and all supporting partners to conduct the memorable Girls in ICT celebration. She also addressed how the gender digital divide has been a product of existing social and economic inequalities.
Okuda acknowledged the vulnerable group within the society, such as people in remote and rural areas, people with disabilities and girls and young women who don't have access, devices or opportunities to digital technology. In this regard, Malaysia has become an exemption on the similar outcomes, being strategically located in the heart of the region with easy access to other growing market and robust infrastructure, connectivity and economic stability. Malaysia has been enjoined the ICT sector with the fastest growing contribution to the economy, which is now beyond 20% of GDP by 2020. Malaysia has revolutionised the education system with ICT in schools via effective policies resulting in a better future workforce of the country and economic prosperity.
Mr Stefan Priesner, UN Resident Coordinator in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, continued the event by delivering the welcoming remarks. He put focus on how Malaysia has recognised digital transformation with their Digital Economic Blueprint, strengthening human capacity for women and men in emerging technologies as part of Malaysia's aspirations to become a digitally driven, high-income nation and a regional leader in the digital economy as outlined in their recently launched Digital Economy Blueprint. The event was then followed by the key-note address by H.E Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad bin Mentek, the Secretary-General of Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia. He asserted and acknowledged that there is still a stark digital gender gap worldwide, such that 1.7 billion women from low and middle-income countries with no access to the Internet. However, Malaysia put diligent effort to alleviate such digital gap among men and women. Malaysia, fortunately, had achieved a more or less balanced usage of the Internet at a ratio of 46:54 between women and men. Thus, he firmly believed if girls and young women can tap the full power of technologies through access and connectivity to the Internet, new vital and crucial opportunities will shed upon them.
MYGICT21 in achieving MyDIGITAL Aspirations
Acknowledging how much can be accomplished by getting girls together, the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia is creating this space through Girls in ICT Day Malaysia 2021 for industry and community leaders to emerge, communicate, and hopefully inspire these girls to see the potential of STEM and ICT. This is the room for girls and young women to recognise that they are an integral feature of the 'Malaysia Digital Economic Blueprint,' or MyDIGITAL, a national policy launched in February 2021 to achieve inclusive, responsible and sustainable socio-economic growth through digital transformation in Malaysia. Hence, MYGICT21 may be the driving factor that could help contribute to the road map set out in the Malaysia Digital Economic Blueprint; by the end of this decade, Malaysia will become a high-value-added economy, a net exporter of home-grown technologies and digital solutions. The blueprint outlines 22 strategies, comprising 48 national initiatives and 28 sectoral initiatives. It will be implemented over ten years — from 2021 to 2030 — and divided into three phases. The first phase, from 2021 to 2022, involves reinforcing the foundations and accelerating digitalisation. The second phase, from 2023 to 2025, will focus on driving inclusive digital transformation. In the final phase, from 2026 to 2030, Malaysia is envisioned to become a regional market for digital products and digital solutions providers.
MYGICT21 resembles killing two birds with one stone; apart from accelerating innovation and creating an effective digital ecosystem for the economy's growth, it also succours in promoting gender equality among Malaysians. Gender equality here represents equal representation of men and women in ICT-related fields, especially in learning opportunities and career-wise. Malaysia has long recognised the importance of STEM in the country's progress toward becoming a developed nation. They acknowledge women's roles as equal partners in nation-building. While there is no specific policy on girls in STEM education, the issue of gender has been included in many national policies, which has contributed to the current robust participation of girls in STEM. This becomes clear as more girls enrol in STEM-related fields. According to current trends, 61 per cent of female students are enrolled in Science, Mathematics, and Computer, and 44 per cent are enrolled in Engineering, Manufacturing, and Construction at public universities across the country. This is the opposite of the global trends in which enrolment of female students is particularly low in ICT (3%), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5%) and engineering, manufacturing and construction (8%). However, when we compare these statistics with those registering in professional bodies, female participation is relatively low and does not reflect those fields' enrolment. In 2018, only 30% of technologists registered with the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) were female, and a low 29% of engineers registered with the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) are female. Consequently, it is predominantly substantial to address this issue as gender equality has been conclusively shown to stimulate economic growth and prosperity.
Supporting Digital Transformation and Cyber Security among Girls and Young Women
It is critical to begin cyber safety education at an early age so that girls can learn about safe online behavior and become responsible digital citizens of the future. Our young women and girls live in a society where there is little distinction between the digital and the physical. Their lives are intricately linked with social media, and texting is often the primary mode of communication among their peers. According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), 45.7 per cent of Malaysia's Internet users are women. From that statistic, it is an alarming cyber threat as 95 per cent of Malaysian girls have suffered from child sexual exploitation, according to IWF Reporting Portal, supported by CyberSecurity Malaysia and Childline Foundation. The cause of celebrating Girls in ICT Day Malaysia 2021 provides an excellent platform for our girls and women to embrace the wonders of technology and deliberate on real cybersecurity issues, by understanding potential cyber-threats and value the importance of safe and ethical usage of the Internet.
CyberSecurity Malaysia, as part of the International Safer Internet Day (SID) Committee, has initiated Malaysia's Chapter with the theme #myETiKAsiber campaign. The goal is to build positive online attributes of SELF and SPACE with Cyber Ethics. Cyber Ethics refers to the code of responsible behaviours on the Internet. Malaysians must act responsibly in the cyber world and the very essence of good “cyber citizens”. #myETiKAsiber campaign in conjunction with Girls in ICT 2021 celebration, aims to resonate the objectives emphasis on cyber ethics culture, adhering to Rukun Negara, the national philosophy and empowering girls and young women in the cyber world. Girls and young women of Malaysia will not only be digitally resilient to fend for themselves from any given threats and risks, but the values of positive practices, good etiquette online, digital empathy, strong balanced of cyber-savviness and Digital Quotient will forevermore be cemented in the hearts for years to come. It is hoped Malaysia digital adventure will find ways to contribute to this dynamic and competitive global landscape in achieving MyDIGITAL aspirations.
All images courtesy of the Communication Technology Division, Ministry of Communication and Multimedia Malaysia