How digital technology has impacted my life and career

I am Glory Amara Brendan-Otuojor, a development professional and programme management specialist. I am the founder of Development Impact Pathfinders Initiative and Head of Programmes at Education Today for Sustainable Development Initiative. I want to share with fellow women how I have utilized the digital space to advance my education and career.

My first shot at the digital space was in the year 2000 when I opted to go for a computer training program in Lagos. Prior to that time, I struggled with getting a job and furthering my education. My family did not have money to pay for my higher education, so I needed to work and save money for my studies. Because I only had secondary school certificate, I could only get low paying jobs like sales girl. After working in two of such places with less than two thousand naira salary per month, I decided I needed to scale myself up to be able to get a better paying job. Going to a computer school in Abuja then was quite expensive, so I decided to go to Lagos. In Lagos, I enrolled for a 6 months diploma in computer and immediately I finished and returned to Abuja, I was able to secure a job at a law firm as a secretary. With the skills I have acquired, I could type documents with computer, edit, save, print documents, send emails and prepare presentations for the firm.

Few years after, I was able to secure admission and began to study for my bachelor's degree. My digital skills helped a lot as I could type my term papers and assignments myself and save cost. After first degree, I desired to go for further studies abroad. Unlike in the conventional space were you need human connections to get admission into schools or secure scholarships, with my digital skills I just sat by my computer applied to schools in abroad and got three admission offers. Same way, after selecting one of the offers in the Netherlands, I applied to the Dutch Government's scholarship then known as Netherlands Fellowship Programme and was able to secure scholarship for my master's degree in the Netherlands. If I didn't have digital skills, studying abroad would have been very frustrating as most academic activities were done online and communications required tech skills.

Since after studies, digital skills have helped me navigate my career path in the development space. From creating impressive CVs to writing winning proposals and grant applications to designing strategic plans and managing projects as well as maintaining communications with donors and sponsors. It has been amazing using tools like excel to prepare project budgets, power point to prepare presentations, canva to make flyers, Google forms for data collection, surveys, etc. I have also taken many online courses and programs to improve my work. My next step is to start creating educational contents online and facilitating online training.

As we celebrate International Women's Day, I call for more opportunities for women to explore the digital space and close the gender gaps in the tech space. I also call on fellow women to utlise the numerous training programs and opportunities on the internet to improve their careers and empower themselves.

Happy International Women's Day

#DigitALL

#IWD2023