Umniah Sponsors & Celebrates the International Day for Females in the ICT Sector
In confirmation to its strategy to support the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as well as encouraging women to interact with this field, Umniah has participated in the international Day for Females in the ICT sector held under the patronage of Princess Sumaya Bint Al Hassan, where the event was held in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) and Talal Abu Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-KS).
During the ceremony, Umniah confirmed the importance of empowering women and integrating them in today’s workforce with several economic sectors, especially the ICT one as it’s witnessing continuous growth and development in the industry. Recent figures of the ICT sector have revealed that females account for up to 29 percent of the sector’s direct jobs.
The ceremony that was held at the Business Park in Amman was attended by the representative on behalf of the Minister of ICT, Eng. Mohammed Ta’ani; and Mustafa Nasir al-Din, the representative on behalf of Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu Ghazaleh Knowledge Society. The event was held with the aim to encourage women to seek employment in the telecommunications industry, which goes in line with the initiative previously launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
The Director of Enterprise & High Value Segment at Umniah, Mahmoud Abu Zannad, spoke on the occasion saying women constitute a great portion of the society with huge abilities and, therefore, are able to make significant contributions for sustainable economic development especially after having the proper guidance to better seek new opportunities. Women can contribute to the creation of pioneer companies in the Internet and digital content industries, which has become the main core for all economic sectors.
Mr. Abu Zannad also confirmed that “Our participation in the event runs in parallel to Umniah’s core objectives to support youth, empower women in the ICT sector as well as support entrepreneurism and innovation in the kingdom. Since our launch in the local market, we have aimed to enhance women's economic participation and bridge the gap between education output and labor market needs in addition to encouraging them to work in the ICT sector which makes up 14 percent of the national GDP, and this translates to roughly 80,000 jobs, whether they are direct or indirect.”
Jordan’s Minister of ICT, Dr. Azzam Sleit spoke on behalf of the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Eng. Mohammad Ta’ani saying, “The ceremony came in response to the International Telecommunications Union’s efforts to provide new opportunities to students and help them better understand the services, requirements & challenges faced in the ICT sector.”
Dr. Sleit later pointed out that this ceremony came to ensure the place of women in the ICT sector and help increase its role in entering the virtual world especially that the technological advancement have proven that matter in developing women's capabilities and supports their role in society.
Mustafa Nasr Al Deen, representative of Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh said, “Our CSR objectives revolve around supporting youth, creating new job opportunities as well as offering guidance through various training programs. Hence, we are keen on boosting our involvement with all initiatives that seek to provide technical program as we do. It should be noted that under the direction of Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh to the newer cooperation that was held with the Jordanian education initiative through my chance for excellence program in hosting a number of trainees to work in various information technology centers through our group. We are proud to of our strong cooperation with Umniah, which relates to several areas of society including women in the workforce.”
It is noteworthy to mention that the ceremony included a special program for students to prepare them for their integration into Jordan’s workforce as well as ways to encourage women to seek opportunities in the ICT sector.
