Good evening, dear Riga TechGirls and everyone else gathered here today,
My sincerest welcome to the participants of programme “Discover Tech” who are joining us remotely!
It is always truly an honour and a pleasure to attend the opening of your new programme, and this is the third season already.
Over the past two years the programme has had more than 10,000 participants. Almost 4,000 participants have applied for the new programme – women and men from Latvia, as well as Latvians from many countries around the world.
Alongside digital skills, the participants will expand their network of contacts throughout the world and possibly forge new friendships in the process. Today, global contacts are crucial for professional development.
Anna Andersone, Head of Riga TechGirls, already talked about the technical details of the new programme, and former participants, new participants and mentors will continue to expand on this issue in just a few minutes. Therefore, allow me to share with you some of my thoughts!
I
I believe that all of you, dear Riga TechGirls, possess a noble quality, namely, generosity. You are generous with your knowledge, your contacts and your time. You are ready to pass on your knowledge, which you, quite possibly, may have acquired without the help of anyone else, perhaps even going against popular social opinion of what professions are suited for girls.
Thus, you are improving the lives of others, helping them learn new skills, gain in-depth understanding of the opportunities provided by communication technologies and also shape their personality in the long-term.
You have a direct impact on the lives of a handful of people, although 10,000 is quite the handful, but indirectly the lives of others in their lives are also changed for the better. Just like a stone thrown into water creates many circles, so Riga TechGirls change the lives of so many people.
As experts in your area, you are not afraid to tell the participants of the programme about the darker side of the IT sector as well. For example, you talk about cybersecurity and privacy risks. Only if we are able to recognise misinformation and other threats, can we fight against them.
II
There is absolutely no doubt that women and men have the same right to good education, a secure job, equal pay for equal effort. Through a long struggle, courageous and intelligent women obtained these rights for themselves and for us only in the previous century.
Men had become accustomed to these rights which they believed to be “God given”, and they had set up their lives accordingly to enjoy these benefits. They had realised the importance of mutual support and had long since established brotherhoods and cooperative relations. Now the time has come for women to set up what I would like to call “sisterhoods”.
The world is full of wise and highly educated women. They can be met at various congresses, state institutions and non-governmental organisations, their thoughts are published and their discoveries are written about in scientific journals.
Be smart, talk to them and learn from them!
III
Wherever I have gone, I always taken the opportunity to talk about you and your projects.
I talked about you with Pramilla Patten, Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the United Nations in New York, as I did when meeting with the spouses of the presidents of the Western states during the NATO summit in Madrid, in a meeting with the Flemish Minister of Education in Luxembourg and at the summit on restoring Ukraine after the war organised by Olena Zelenskyy in Kyiv. During the German president’s visit here in Riga, you delighted his wife with a presentation about your programmes and women’s success stories from Latvia. All of them have shown interest to learn more about you and your projects.
The world and women around the globe appreciate and welcome you, the intelligent creators and participants of Riga TechGirls.
IV
Dear Riga TechGirls,
All of you are fluent in at least one foreign language and computer programme, you sing Summer Solstice songs and programme algorithms, you raise children and host hackathons — I believe this is modern Latvianism, which will ensure the existence of Latvia in future!
Do not forget your roots, but go forward with a strong and knowing vision of the future!
I recently read an interview with Elīna Smilga, Head of the “Discover Tech” programme, where she talked about her experience with Riga TechGirls. I sincerely agree with her conclusions that the work done by Riga TechGirls makes Latvia a better place!
I wish you a successful new school year full of valuable knowledge!
Thank you!
