Bulgarian “Women in Tech” Program Expands Training Scope in 2nd year
[Sofia, Bulgaria, February 14, 2025] Women in Tech 2025 was formally launched at an event at the Bulgarian University of Telecommunications and Posts. The initiative offers free training in basic digital skills to women of all ages, who are either unemployed or in need of retraining. It is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Higher School of Telecommunications and Posts, and Huawei Technologies Bulgaria.
In 2025, the second year of the program, it will consist of two levels: Basic and Advanced, with the latter offered to women who already underwent the program last year or who already have some basic digital skills.
At the launch event, the Rector of the University of Telecommunications and Posts Prof. Miglena Temelkova noted: "We as an University, along with our professional commitment to train young people, have a social responsibility, which we are happy to be able to realize together with Huawei Technologies Bulgaria. Huawei was our partner, who, together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, supported us in the training process. We were the ones who conducted the courses here in this building, provided them with our teachers so that today we could say together that we achieved all this. 510 women are more confident, more self-belief and have a more successful professional realization!"
The Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Iliana Yotova, who was also a mentor in the first edition of the initiative, said she will continue to support it. "It is an extremely emotional day for me. A year later, I can safely say that the program worked out better than we had hoped. There is a paradox – the percentage of women in leadership positions in the tech sector in Bulgaria is among the highest in the European Union, while at the same time in basic digital knowledge we are in the last places in the EU. And instead of just commenting on this paradox, the business, the state and the education sector, we held hands and started this program, which has already trained 510 women. I can describe the initiative in three words – success, security and inspiration," Vice President Yotova said.
Iliana Iotova, Vice President of Republic of Bulgaria (left), with a program participant
"This program gives the key to success for every Bulgarian woman who would like to develop her skills. And the key is very simple – the key is a joint activity between the business that knows what it needs, the state that supports it, and in this case an educational institution that gives all its staff in the direction of developing the relevant programs. so that in accordance with the needs of the business to be able to provide some trained wonderful women who have found the strength in themselves to dare to learn something new," said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Mrs. Natalia Efremova.
"I am honored to be part of this initiative, because getting out of the comfort zone is the first step towards change. The women who took part in the first edition of the program not only changed their lives, but also that of their families. We all know how important good qualifications are, especially at a time when technologies are developing at a rapid pace," the Speaker of Parliament Assoc. Natalia Kiselova.
Nataliya Kiselova, Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria (right), with a Huawei representative
"First edition in 2024 was very successful and we are proud to be part of this program. Every life story we met was extremely inspiring and I want to thank all the students most sincerely. It is because of their ambition and desire to learn new things that we are happy to announce that Women in Tech 2025 will offer free courses for the second level of training," said Terry Li, General Manager of Huawei Technologies Bulgaria.
In 2024, 70% of the 510 participants were over 50 years old, an indication that the need for digital skills may be more acute in mature women.
Women in Tech in 2025 will welcome new mentors, as impressive as those who inspired the participants in 2024 - Iliana Iotova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Zhanet Zaharieva, Chief Advisor to the Board of Directors of VIVACOM, Andreana Atanasova, Chairman of the Alliance of Technology Industry. The new ambassadors are Natalia Kiselova, President of the National Assembly, Gabriela Kozareva, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Prof. Evelina Slavcheva, Chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the journalist Ani Salich, prof. Eliza Stefanova, Chairman of the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency, Miglena Uzunova-Tsekova, Head of Human Resources Department and Member of the Leadership Team of A1, and Elena Marinova, Founder of the International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad (IOAI)
Ambassadors to Women in Tech 2025
