Thursday 25th April 2019, TATTE CONFERENCE ROOM Keynote Address by Hon Fiame Naomi Mataafa.
It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you this morning in the Celebration of Girls in ICT Day 2019.
This is an annual event hosted by the Office of the Regulator, in line with international programmes of the International Telecommunications Union.
This is the fifth event of its kind in Samoa, and last year we had commemorated it in the big island of Savaii for the first time. Taking this to Savaii was a good achievement for us in bringing awareness to the ladies living in Savaii.
CONTEXT
I cannot emphasise enough that the spirit of this day looks at you, it looks into creating a global environment that encourages and empowers girls and young women like you to take up careers in the growing field of Information and Communication Technology (“ICT”).
This is the Digital Age, a time in human history where the world is moving away from traditional industry and towards modern societies based on information computerization.
The phenomenon of this age is that the digital industry creates a knowledge based society enclosed by innovation that will contribute to any country’s (including Samoa) social and economic development and sustainability.
Therefore with the growth in technological trends comes the growth in demand for experts in this field especially female participation. Companies all over the world are exercising the importance of female roles in the ICT sector, opening doors to endless possibilities and reaping the benefits towards new innovations. With new innovation come new online threats also known as cyber threats. Therefore it is important to realise the need to pursue cyber security fields and become national experts to combat dangers that may arise in the future of our country.
CONCLUSION
This year’s Girls in ICT Day, I am urging and inviting you to make a life changing choice here and now to utilise the knowledge that you attain today to seek out opportunities to serve in various capacities in the ICT sector whether it be an engineer, IT, lawyer an economist specialised in the field of ICT; your contribution big or small makes a difference.
I commend the foresight of the Principals and Teachers of the schools that accepted the invitation by the Regulator to participate in this year’s event, and I am confident it is not at a loss.
On that note, today offers you a path to experience and knowledge in the digital society with which creates so many opportunities that will shape our Samoa as a modernised and technological nation.
I firmly believe that you (young Samoan ladies and women) are capable of achieving greatness as the Samoan proverbial saying ‘E au le inailau a tamaitai’, translated simply ‘Women are more than capable of achieving the impossible’.
So as a special note for the girls here; I wish you all the best in conquering the impossible should you choose a career path in Information and Communication Technology.
God Bless and Soifua
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