Castries — Saint Lucia — 21st June 2021 — Three Caribbean girls who took the time to learn more about Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have been rewarded. Malea Antoine, Mataellia Breen and Jasmine Dusauzay each won an Amazon Gift Card valued at US$100 for participating in a Girls in ICT Day follow-up contest staged by the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL).
The contest formed part of ECTEL’s activities to mark Girls in ICT Day, observed this year under the theme ‘Connected Girls, Creating Brighter Futures’. ECTEL partnered with four young women from the Eastern Caribbean who are thriving in technology to stage a Virtual Tech Talk that attracted over 400 participants from across the Caribbean. Key takeaways from the inspirational speakers included: Melisha Toussaint from Dominica (Assistant Engineer, NTRC Dominica) reminded participants to be curious and seek meaningful mentorship; Janique-ka John from St. Vincent (Founder, Women in Tech Caribbean Community, and Software Engineer in Brussels) challenged students to devise creative solutions to the world’s problems; Cheyenne Polius from Saint Lucia (OECS Commission’s Representative — Outstanding Youth in Science) reminded students that the world was their oyster and that they can thrive in ICT from a small Caribbean country; and Mindy-Luquiana Chicot from Saint Lucia (Communications Specialist, Allez Inc.) showed the possibilities of merging passions with ICT to create solutions to issues such as transportation.
Following the event, Caribbean girls were asked to share one main takeaway from each speaker and a photograph of them interacting with technology. ECTEL is the regulatory body advising the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commissions on Electronic Communications matters in its five member states: the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.