The Korean Information Society Development Institute (KISDI, President Kwon Ho-yeol) held the “2021 Girls in ICT Day” event at 2 pm at KISDI on April 22, with some twenty students from Seojeon High School in Chungbuk Innovation City.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized organization of the UN, designated the third Thursday of April as an annual 'Girls in ICT Day' in 2011 to promote gender equality through information and communication technology, and has held worldwide campaigns to encourage female interest and participation in ICT and science.

Kang Ha-yun, executive director of the KISDI International Cooperation Research Division, said, “As a sectoral member of the ITU development sector, KISDI also participates in these efforts of the ITU and member states; and, as a regional relocation organization in Chungbuk Innovation City, we decided to hold this event to provide an opportunity for local high school girls to enter the ICT field and enable them to participate in the events of an international organization.”

The event started with a lecture by Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, director of the ITU Development Cooperation Bureau, who succeeded in advancing to an elected office as a woman for the first time in ITU history. The various programs - including internships at ICT companies, ICT-related policy research experiences, and career exploration in the ICT field - presented by female leaders such as Senior Researcher Song Joo-yeon of Samsung Electronics, Dr. Kim Min-hee of KISDI, Research Fellow Park Eun-ji of Naver, and Team Leader Chung Sue-jin of the Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) received a very favorable response from the participants.

Notably, during the Q&A session, participants had a beneficial time satisfying their curiosity about various career paths in ICT-related international organizations, corporations, and public institutions, receiving advice from active women leaders in the ICT field as mentors.