Huawei launches digital skills program for women in Bulgaria

[Sofia, Bulgaria, 20 December] Following the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with Bulgaria’s Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the University of Telecommunications, Huawei launched a program to boost the digital skills of Bulgarian women. The project is part of Huawei’s global initiative “Women in Tech” created to encourage greater participation of women in the tech sector.

The announcement took place in the University for Telecommunications and Posts on 15 December 2023 during a roundtable discussion with the Vice President of Bulgaria Iliana Iotova, Minister of Labour Social Policy Ivanka Shalapatova, Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva, Rector of UTP Prof. Miglena Temelkova, and leading women from the field of education, business and telecommunications.

"In the series of crises we live in, the hard-rooted weed of inequalities has erupted. Among its first victims are the most vulnerable – women and children," said the Vice President at the presentation of the project. She added that although results have been achieved in the fight for equality between men and women, there is still a firmly locked glass ceiling that stops the full development of girls and women.

"At the same time, we also have reasons for pride – Bulgaria ranks first in the European Union in the share of women specialists in the sector of information and communication technologies, third in the share of women students in such specialties,” Iotova noted “I am convinced that after the end of the project there will be more women with confidence that they can build their own future.”

"Participation in the programme "Women in tech" will increase women’s chances to realize their full potential on the labour market, and will drive equal access to available opportunities," said Minister of Labour and Social Policy Ivanka Shalapatova. "By promoting the inclusion of women in the tech world, you help them obtain better conditions for career development, high income, and security both for them and for their families," added Minister Shalapatova.

"The commercialisation of research results and the development of innovations will be crucial to boost Europe's competitiveness. This is one of the main priorities of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, on which we are actively working," said Minister Milena Stoycheva. "We encourage women innovators and women in general to unleash their potential in sectors that bring high added value to the economy," she added. Minister Stoycheva underlined the importance of partnerships with industry for realizing investments in human capital aimed at retraining and acquiring more digital skills.

According to Prof. Miglena Temelkova: "Social responsibility is part of the culture, emotional intelligence, and empathy of each society. Rarely, however, universities can afford such social responsibility due to the limitations of the financial resources at their disposal. But in collaboration with technology leaders like Huawei, that social responsibility can be implemented. Our partnership with Huawei has been on-going for years and this collaboration is not the first time that it has added value to Bulgarian society. This example is not only the beginning of this project, but also Huawei's contribution to the development of Bulgarian higher education."

One of the rationale’s behind Women in tech is to allow the half of the population who are women to enjoy equal opportunities through digital skills. This will not only improve the state of the industry, but also significantly contribute to the development of Bulgaria and the country’s GDP growth, Radoslav Kedzia, Vice President of Huawei Europe Region.

Through the project, Huawei Technologies Bulgaria has equipped a classroom at the University of Telecommunications and Posts, where women can take courses to acquire basic digital skills, including programs such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, to help them enter the labour market. After a course and an exam, participants will receive a certificate from the University of Telecommunications and Posts. Prospective participants will be able to enroll, free of charge, through employment offices. The program will start in January 2024 and will include an online component to widen enrollment. The curriculum can be completed within one year.