An ICT expert, Hassanah Ibrahim, on Tuesday in Abuja, said Google, through its “Women Will’’ project, trained 180 women in ICT and leadership skills in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Ibrahim, who is the CEO, Durian Technology Limited and the coordinator for Google Women Will project for FCT, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the “Women Will’’ project, an initiative of Google Business Group, was aimed at bringing more women into technology.
Durian Technologies, one of the fastest growing companies that provide quality IT consulting services and innovative solutions to customers, had been collaborating with Google to drive its programmes in the country, she said.
According to her, Google has many community business groups such as the Google Development Group and the Women Will, under Google business group.
She added that the Women Will initiative was to encourage women to make use of technology in their businesses instead of sitting at home doing nothing.
She explained, “We are supposed to organise workshops and training every three months to enlighten women on leadership skills and technology.
“The Women Will initiative started last year after a summit in Singapore and so far, we have conducted three workshops to educate women and girls about the advantages of using technology to project their businesses.
“And during those workshops, we trained 60 women in different topics in ICT and leadership skills and ways they can make use of their skills in technology to get better at whatever they do.
“Sometimes, we ask the women to bring up topics on issues that bother them and we discuss them and take feedback to Google to find a way to support them.’’
She, however, said the turnout of women in the trainings was discouraging and called for partnership with the media to publicise it.
She said “we do adverts, posters, put it on Facebook pages and even on Instagram and reach out to so many people and at the end of the day, the turnout is disappointing.
“We put out forms, where over 300 women filled but only about 100 showed up for training, citing different situations and problems.’’
She, therefore, called for more enlightenment through the media “for women to know the massive advantages they can gain from the trainings.’’
