IT community from Central Asia: IT Ladies Uzbekistan

Ekaterina Nikolaeva, city — Tashkent, founder of IT Ladies Uzbekistan, @it_ladies_uz

About the Community

The IT Ladies community began with the initiative of several women. In September 2023, Aziza Shuzheeva, head of TechnoWomen Central Asia, proposed that I, co-owner of the AMEGA group of IT companies, lead the TechnoWomen direction in Uzbekistan. At ICT Week in Tashkent in October 2023, the most active women in the IT sector of Central Asia gathered at a women's session to discuss this issue. The Techno format proved too complex for a start, so we decided to narrow the direction to IT. The initiative was supported by Kamola Shavkatovna Sobirova, advisor to the Minister of Digital Technologies. On November 10, 2023, the first meeting of the community initiators took place at the Ministry of Digital Technologies, where it was decided that I would lead the women's IT community.

Next, I prepared the community concept and gathered an initiative group that formed the core of the community's management committee. Preparatory work took a month and a half. Saida Khalilova, a specialist in external communications at the IT Education Association, played an active role in the preparation. Thanks to her, the community gained a legal basis and direct communication with various government bodies. Kamola Shavkatovna approved the concept and the community's event plan for 2024, and on January 10, 2024, the first activities began. During this period, a five-month mentoring program launched to support IT businesses and startups, the first group coaching program SmartMonth took place, and monthly IT breakfasts began.

The community was created with the goal of active networking and supporting women in the IT sector of Uzbekistan through a large number of different events. In addition, the IT Ladies Telegram chat has become a true library of useful information.

Community residents collectively set their own KPIs for 2023. Several indicators have already been exceeded; for example, the plan was to recruit 300 girls into the Telegram chat. Currently, there are almost 500 girls in the chat on a stable basis.

The key task is to ensure that girls in Uzbekistan have access to information about free IT education, mentor and expert consultations, networking meetings, and inspiration and motivation for development in IT.

On the website created by our participants, there is a presentation of the community where the goals and objectives of IT Ladies are described in detail.

Community Members

To join the community, it is enough to submit an application to the Telegram chat and pass moderation, which confirms that the initiator is female. The chat includes only girls aged 12 and above. Almost 100% of the participants are residents of Uzbekistan, with an average age of 25. Administrators control that the information discussed is useful and related to IT.

We also maintain a profile on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Openness is not limited to just the participants but also extends to anyone who wishes to contribute to the community and join the management committee. To do this, you need to submit an application to the head of the community via private message in any format, present a resume, and pass a personal online interview. Everything we do is always free for our participants, and this is a key factor for us. The team of residents, mentors, experts, designers, marketers, and other helpers work exclusively on a voluntary basis, and they are all women.

Events for Community Members

Members of the community's management committee hold weekly online meetings to discuss community tasks, report on internal news, and completed work. This is significant but often unnoticed work that yields substantial results. In just five months of operation, we held six business breakfasts, five group coaching programs, one stream of a five-month monitoring program to support IT businesses, with the participation of more than 25 girls, one exhibition of women's IT startups, and four webinars. Additionally, we organized the main women's IT event in Uzbekistan — the IT Star contest! This was an exciting event: thanks to our sponsors and guests, we were able to award girls from Uzbekistan who develop the industry daily across 46 different IT categories. The event was attended by more than 300 girls, many of whom came with children or parents — a huge wave of inspiration and burning eyes was the main reward for the event organizers. It was unanimously recognized that IT Star became the most inspiring and motivating event in the industry for women. 

I express great gratitude to the work of the management committee — Saida Khalilova, Nazik Rakhimova, and Laila Rustamova — who build relationships with sponsors so that all our events are free for women.

How the Community Helps with Development

First of all, we have an Education topic in our chat, where we painstakingly collect information about free courses, and a Local Programs topic about various grant support programs for education and internships. In addition, there is a Startup&Business topic where we talk about opportunities to receive grants, work with venture funds, and investors. Having such a collection of materials, any girl can not only improve her skills but also gain access to financing her business. 

In webinars, we talk about methods for building a personal brand, sales techniques, negotiation skills, resume writing, and much more. Our five-month mentoring program included two professional trainers: 

— Yulia Metelitsa, in the "Business" direction, with whom participants discussed issues of interaction with investors, legal registration, and business registration in Uzbekistan

— Valeria Mironenko, in the "Psychoenergetics" direction, who conducted various practices for participants to gain support and expand financial boundaries.

For women, it is important not only to receive and absorb information but also to work with their psyche. At two of our business breakfasts, professional psychologists Irina Lyutina and Elmira Kelmambetova were guests, providing practical advice to girls.

We noticed that five-week group coaching programs, Smart Month, yield colossal results for girls: they achieve their set goals, find jobs, complete abandoned courses, finish reading books, clear their space, and introduce new useful habits.

Successful Projects

Our resident, Botagoz Sagindikova, and honorary guest speaker at IT breakfast, Anna Shibanova, jointly created and conducted a seminar, boosting each other's audience. Girls who participated in our startup exhibition received a grant from Cloudpard to host their IT projects on their servers for a year. Several projects met sponsors there and found part of the funding for support. All girls who won the IT Star contest noted not only inspiration but also positive feedback from management and relatives. The status increased significantly after receiving the award and a letter of appreciation from the Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, Sherzod Shermatov.

Plans

On July 12, 2024, the members of the IT Ladies management committee will choose a new head for the second half of 2024. I also remain the founder, but I have decided to help other girls express themselves publicly and develop organizational skills.

The competition for this role was public — any girl aged 18 and above with IT experience could submit an application to participate; the application form was published in the community's Telegram chat. Current members of the management committee will listen to presentations and development plans from each candidate and choose the most active and positive girl. These two qualities, combined with discipline, will help the new head maintain and develop the momentum of the community's activities. Plans for the remainder of 2024 include holding a second startup exhibition, a mentoring program, an IT education exhibition, and participating in ICT Week 2024. We will also continue to hold webinars, SmartMonth, and IT breakfasts on a regular basis.