PASHA HACKATHON: WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD WITH TECHNOLOGY

Today, digital technologies are increasingly becoming crucial tools for reconstructing the world, and women's roles in digital technologies and IT solutions are significant. To create innovative products, one of Azerbaijan's largest 48-hour technology competitions, supported by “Pasha Holding” and organized by “ PashaPay ” and “Hackquarters by Tenity,” concluded on June 28-30, 2024, in Baku with “Pasha Hackathon 4.0.” The “Untitled” team from SOCAR's Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) won first place, earning 6000 AZN. Both the winning team and the second-place team included female participants.

Yes, I, Aygün Ahmedova, have participated as a mentor in the largest technology competition in Azerbaijan, “Pasha Hackathon,” for the second time. My first Hackathon mentorship was at “Pasha Hackathon 2.0,” and I still remember those enthusiastic young minds. I want to thank Sabina Babayeva for my role as a mentor in the hackathon. This time, at “Pasha Hackathon 4.0,” what caught my attention was the increasing number of participants each year and the fact that the main members of the teams were girls. Even the majority of the judges, mentors, and experts were women. Naturally, as a woman and a leader working with women, this made me incredibly happy. I shared my joy with the organizers, thanked them, and decided to write this article.

In discussions and conversations with the boys and girls in all the teams I mentored, I heard comments from the male participants such as, “Girls are strong tools for change in technology and want to use it for social welfare, they are interesting, agile, and creative problem solvers,” “Even those without deep technology experience aim to learn,” and “Girls are more creative and can bring new approaches.” One of the female participants even said, “I am now planning my future in such a way that everything I do will be through technology. I have many ideas and plans. I am very interested in programming and am learning it. This competition teaches us how to work agilely and accurately over three days.”

I am very glad that the role of women in the ICT sector in our country is expanding day by day, ensuring gender equality in this direction. All these encourage young girls to show interest in innovations, choose careers in technology, and build their careers in this field. This is clearly visible in Pasha Hackathon and other projects today.

I should also mention that among the representatives of the “Magen David International Center for Women” that I lead and the key board members of the “Support for the Development and Education of Women” Public Union that I founded, the leadership of the ICT and programming school (Maestro School) created by female founders is also represented. Together, we organize a number of projects related to digitalization and other relevant areas for women and girls. These women actively participate in the development of the information society and the digital economy.

I would also like to point out that equality between men and women is one of the main tasks of the UN Millennium Development Goals, and ICT is a tool that helps accelerate progress towards this goal. Therefore, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council highlights issues that enable women and girls to take their rightful place in the world by using the full power of ICT to show new digital opportunities and end discrimination.

I wish success to the Pasha Hackathon team, supported by Pasha Holding, which helps young people explore the possibilities of technology, gives them new skills and competencies, empowers them to solve real-world problems, and helps open their minds to new opportunities.

Think. Create. Innovate. To be continued.