SINENHLANHLA ZUNGU
DURBAN - BE A PART of the celebration of women in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
On Thursday is Girls in ICT Day, which the UN’s International Telecommunication Union has marked as a day to highlight the need to promote technology career opportunities for women in the world’s fastest-growing sector.
In its 10th year, the celebration is a global movement that recognises women in the ICT sector.
The movement also aims to encourage young women to play a bigger role globally in the technology and digital revolution.
Information and communications technology is widely known as a male-dominated sector. The global movement is a way of changing the perception that women do not belong in ICT jobs.
TikTok has partnered with the International Telecommunications Union to support the movement and has launched a #GirlsInICT campaign where TikTok users are encouraged to participate.
“All users need to do is share their tips and techniques for using different technological tools along with the hashtag,” said Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok content operations manager.
According to Career Junction’s March 2021 report, recruitment activity for professionals in the information and communications technology sector increased during the first quarter of 2021 and ICT remains one of the most in-demand skills in South Africa.
“While this is a move in the right direction, we would like to see more women being recruited into this space,” said Sidwaba.
The Daily News spoke to three brilliant tech girls who will be representing the ICT sector on TikTok in South Africa.
Gaming content creator and ESports commentator, Chantelle “Chani” Alexander, who’s @chani_za uses her TikTok account to master digital content creation. Although she is known as an eSports commentator and professional gamer, Chani is a tech enthusiast. She is also big on sharing advice on how others can become content creators and streamers.
Nomcebo Mashabane, known as @Mcebok on TikTok, runs her dropshipping business through her TikTok account. She is a digital entrepreneur who believes in being technologically savvy. She also encourages women to tap into the digital world.
Kaitlin Naicker, known as @brown__barbie on TikTok, is a customer engineer who is studying, among other things, networking bundle and project management for a software developing company.
Daily News