Minister of Education inaugurates 'DigiGirlz Day' at Dubai Women's College

The event was hosted by Microsoft Gulf and Dubai Women's College in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Center for Women and Technology for the Arab Region (CWTAR).

The goal is to educate and inspire girls by introducing them to the many opportunities and career choices available in the high-tech industry. In addition, Microsoft hopes that this initiative will encourage more young women to pursue degrees and careers in computing science and computer engineering, with the ultimate goal of narrowing the gender gap in the industry.

In his speech, Dr. Hanif Hasan stressed that United Arab Emirates has preceded many other countries in creating links integrating technology into all levels of education. While Dr. Behjat Al Yousef, Chair of the Center for Women and Technology for the Arab World and Associate Director, Dubai Women's College mentioned that the aim of the event is to reach out to high school girls who are one of our target populations in our efforts to increase female participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs.

"By hosting an event such as DigiGirlz, we aim to empower students to build successful careers for themselves and educate them on technology. DigiGirlz is an example of our strong partnership with Microsoft and we look forward to a continuous long-term association with them to inspire more females in the region to join a science and technology career force,"

she added.

Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf also pointed out that the DigiGirlz event is a result of the recommendations made by the Center for Women and Technology in the Arab World (CWTAR), which was inaugurated last November at Dubai Women's College. According to the CWTAR plan, the DigiGirlz model in Dubai is to be adopted by five Arab countries as part of a three year plan under the educational framework to increase the engagement of girls with technology.

During the event, students also had the opportunity to interact with Microsoft employees and managers to gain exposure to careers in business and technology and to get an inside look at what it is like to work at Microsoft.

The platform also provided the girls with career planning assistance, information about technology and business roles, thought-provoking exercises and interaction with some of Microsoft's most exciting technology tools and entertainment devices such as the future Windows 7 and Worldwide Telescope.

To add color to this topic, the girls also took part in hands-on sessions and workshops to learn computer skills such as website development; movie-making; blogging etc.

200 students from grades 9-12 from15 selected schools participated at this year's event. Another 50 participants from Dubai Women's College were also present to provide mentorship to their younger colleagues. This year's event was also supported by Dell, HP and Sony.