Opening and Launching Ceremony of Girls in ICT India 2024

In India, the Girls in ICT Day initiative aims to encourage girls and young women to pursue studying STEM, enhance their level of digital skill, and raise awareness on meaningful and safe use of ICT. The celebration will be organized in partnership with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Broadband India Forum (BIF), and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), together with the UN Country Team (UNCT) in India.

Join the Celebration

To register for this webinar click here.

Event Details:

  • Date: 15 May 2024
  • Time: 8:30 – 18:00, India Standard Time (UTC+5:30)
  • Venue: Centre for Development of Telematics, Mandi Road, Chhatarpur, New Delhi

The event will be conducted in hybrid format.

Programme Agenda

08:30 – 09:30

Launch of coding challenge with Broadband India Forum & CDOT (for school students)

09:30 – 10:00

Registration and event preparation on-site

Testing and online networking on the online platform

Morning tea/coffee (TBC)

10:00 – 11:00

Introduction & Plenary

Session Moderator:

  • Ms Akanksha Sharma, Programme Officer, ITU Area Office for South Asia and Innovation Centre

Welcome remarks:

  • Mr Kishore Babu GSC Yerraballa, ITU Area Representative Southeast Asia & other Member States in Asia and the Pacific,

Special address

  • Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
  • Mr Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India
  • Mr Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific, GSMA (TBC)
  • Representative from Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women & Child Development
  • Ms Andrea M Wojnar, India Representative & Bhutan Country Director, UNFPA

The lighting of the lamp with all dignitaries and Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DoT followed by Group photo

Interactive session with students

Quiz on the “Girls in ICT India: Leadership” using Slido / Mentimeter

Facilitator:

  • Ms Akanksha Sharma

11:00-12:30

Session 1: Creating future leaders – need for strong female role models in STEM.

Moderated by:

  • Student leader from IIT Delhi

Speakers:

  • Ms Madhavi Das, Director General, NICF
  • Ms Nivruti Rai, MD & CEO, Invest India
  • Ms Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM
  • Ms Roshni Nadar, CEO, HCL
  • Ms Geetha Manjunath, Founder, Niramai

Group photo

12:30 – 13:00

Inspirational Speaker / Youth Ambassador

  • Ms Isha Ambani, Board of Director Reliance Jio Infocomm

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch

Interactive session with students

Quiz on the “Girls in ICT India: Leadership” using Slido / Mentimeter

Facilitator:

  • Ms Akanksha Sharma

14:00 – 15:30

Session 2: Talking tech with the UN Agencies

Moderated by:

  • Ms Ruzina Haque Laskar, Researcher, C-DoT

Speakers:

  • Mr Marco Teixeira, Regional Representative, UNODC
  • Ms Kanta Singh, Deputy Country Representative, UNWOMEN
  • Dr Deepa Prasad, Chief of Programme and Technical Support Unit, UNFPA
  • Mr Sayem Mehmood, Education Specialist, UNICEF
  • Representative from IFAD

Group photo

15:30 – 15:45

Tea/Coffee break

Interactive session with students

Quiz on the “Girls in ICT India: Leadership” using Slido / Mentimeter

Facilitator:

  • Ms Akanksha Sharma

15:45 – 17:00

Session 3: Skills of the Future

Moderated by:

  • Ms Sai/Ms Kumud, ITS Batch 2022, DoT

Speakers:

  • Ms Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary (Policy and International Coordination), Ministry of Education
  • Ms Vartika Shukla, CMD, Engineers India Limited
  • Ms Surbhi Kaul, Product Manager, Google AI
  • Mr Shivang Raina, Manager, Public Policy & Emerging Tech, Meta
  • Dr Subir Kumar Saha, Professor, IIT Delhi

Group photo

17:00 – 17:15

Closing Remarks

  • Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, CDOT
  • Ms Radhika Kaul Batra, Chief of Staff, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office
  • Mr Kishore Babu GSC Yerraballa, ITU Area Representative Southeast Asia & other Member States in Asia and the Pacific

17:15 – 18:00

Guided tour of the campus for school children