Almost 14 thousand participants representing 104 countries; 700 speakers, trainers and mentors on a variety of issues of modern technologies and technical sciences; 63 workshops on technology, career opportunities and softskills; 26 side events and 11 preliminary events; 590 mentoring sessions and much, much more - all these are the statistics of the Perspective Women in Tech Summit 2024, the most visible and probably the largest meeting of women working in science, high-tech industries and IT in the world.
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This summit was held for the sixth time in a row. It was held in the largest and most modern exhibition center in Warsaw, WARSAW EXPO XXI, as other buildings simply could not accommodate all the participants of such a festival of creative girls and women who have dedicated their lives to science and high technology, and could not bring together under one roof the variety of events planned by the organizers. By the way, these organizers were representatives of the Polish Educational Foundation “Perspektywy”, which traditionally initiated and was the main driver of this crowded event.
The Ukrainian delegation consisted of 120 representatives of Lviv Polytechnic, Polissia National University, Hebron IT Academy, and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Organizational issues on the part of our country fell on the shoulders of the Academic Mobility Unit of the Department of Educational Work of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. “We took on the organization of this trip primarily because, for obvious reasons, our country is facing a serious problem with logistics, especially given the lack of air service, the complexity of road transportation, etc. “Constantly facing these difficulties in our work, we realized that someone should help overcome them not only for our university but also for others,” said Olha Demydenko, head of this department. ”Together with the Polish side, we organized logistics and transportation... However, it was quite a difficult job. It should be added that the transportation, accommodation of Ukrainian participants of the summit and their organized delivery from the hotel to WARSAW EXPO XXI was paid by the Polish side.
KPI was represented at the summit by 65 participants (it should be noted that this is three times more than last year) - 56 students, 1 postgraduate student, 5 research and teaching staff and 3 employees of the University's Scientific and Technical Library. Initially, it was planned that 60 places would be reserved for KPI and 20 for each of the partner universities. However, due to the fact that the partners did not fully form their delegations, our university received 5 more places. According to Olha Demydenko, an open competition was announced in advance for participation in the event at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, just like for any other academic mobility program. There were more people willing to go to Warsaw than there were places available, so the committee selected the candidates according to traditional criteria: a mandatory English language certificate of at least B2 level, academic success for students and research achievements (especially for teachers), etc. The members of the delegation represented various faculties and research institutes of KPI, and the students represented different levels of higher education: both bachelor's and master's degrees.
The main topics of this year's summit were quantum computing, human-machine interaction, neurodiversity, Data Science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, deep technologies, cloud solutions, as well as digital ecology and, given today's political realities and growing threats in cyberspace, cybersecurity. But there were also others, including those related to innovation and high technology in industrial sectors, management in the IT industry, and much more. In addition to purely technological topics, one of the main components that determined the directions of the Perspective Women in Tech Summit 2024 was the concept of “Tech Life Balance”, dedicated to the formation of global, conscious approaches to the creation and use of new technologies at the global, business, and individual levels - with care to support neurodiversity, social inclusion, sustainable development, and, instead of being a source of stress and digital fatigue, improve the overall quality of life.
From the extensive program of the two-day summit, participants could choose the most interesting lectures, attend useful workshops, talk to mentors and get advice on how to solve certain problems, and even visit the production facilities and offices of some very well-known companies (though by prior registration) and get to know their activities from the inside. It should be added that this year's lectures, discussions, and interviews were held on five stages, including the scientific and career stages. The latter was the last on the list, but not the least in the interests of students and young researchers, especially since the summit also included a Job Fair, where representatives of different countries could establish contacts with potential employers or discuss internship conditions in some companies. And there were plenty of people to negotiate with: representatives of the world's leading technology corporations, telecommunications companies, and non-governmental organizations were also at the summit.
It should be noted that among this variety of activities and areas of work, logos of popular global brands and sounds of languages of different nations, the Ukrainian theme was not lost: the summit had a special Ukrainian location, the Ukrainian Tech Zone, where lectures and interesting meetings were held, and the members of our delegation presented their university, their projects and research. Moreover, Sophia Dokshyna, Assistant of the Department of Automation of Electrical and Mechatronic Complexes of the Institute of IEE, and Liubov Marchuk, a graduate student of the Institute of IEE, presented the Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine Innovation Platform created at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and some of the developments that won at the competitions of innovative projects within the framework of the annual Sikorsky Challenge festival.
The organizers of the trip summarized the results of the participation of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute representatives in excellent and very precise words on the Facebook page of the university's Mobility Department: “We sincerely hope that this trip will be the beginning of new projects, new cooperation, a new impetus for the professional growth of women who master technical sciences, women whose activities are related to education, science and technology, women who are not just the guardians of our identity, but also true ambassadors of Ukrainian universities and strive to build the international trajectory of success of our Motherland!”
A lot of new knowledge, interesting workshops, fascinating lectures, fantastic opportunities of technology. Joyful smiles and sincere communication with like-minded people. 120 participants from four Ukrainian universities joined the summit in Warsaw.
The Department of Academic Mobility of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute hopes that this trip will be the beginning of new projects, new cooperation, and a new impetus for the professional growth of women whose activities are related to education, science and technology.
🎉 We are proud of the achievements of our students!
