Bermudian women leading the way in information and communication technology captivated an audience of female senior school students with stories of shattering race and gender barriers while carving career paths that never before existed.

The International Girls in ICT Day event held at the Bermuda College on Thursday featured speakers in the fields of healthcare, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics and data engineering.

Lashonna Smith, an educational therapist at The Berkeley Institute, moderated the event, which was attended by about 50 female students of Berkeley and CedarBridge Academy.

The theme was “Bermudian Girls Building the Digital World” and was hosted by Information Systems Audit and Control Association Bermuda Chapter in partnership with the Technology Leadership Forum.

Its goal was to provide hands-on advice, networking opportunities and practical exposure to AI, cybersecurity and robotics.

On the topic of robotics, Kameron Young, the founder and chief executive of Tombolo Research, headquartered in Dubai, is leading national conversations on AI readiness across governments, businesses and societies.

Her interest was sparked in 2017 when she competed in the First Global Challenge in 2017 — an international robotics contest.

Out of 157 countries, only six teams were all-female and of them, Ms Young’s came out on top.

Further interest in genetics led her, as an International Baccalaureate student of Bermuda High School, to conduct research that tracked down a potential genetic link to the “sweet tooth” in Bermuda that was directly linked to diabetes and obesity.

Ms Young was later mentored by Carika Weldon, the founder and director of CariGenetics.

Ms Young, who earned a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and a Master of Science in AI and Machine Learning, shared how her work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics had taken her around the world despite challenges she faced being a Black woman working in the healthcare space, and how she aimed to fulfil her dream of making robotics inclusive for people of colour.

Alexis Smith, an information systems security officer with the Ministry of National Security, talked about different types of risks, from phishing scams to cyberattacks.

The BHS graduate, who joined the ministry’s cybersecurity department after the September 2023 attack on government systems, explained that her work is about “protecting people”.

“It’s about protecting your phones, your bank accounts, your social media and even entire countries,” she said.

“It means helping to protect not just the government systems, but the island as a whole. It all depends on systems being secure and reliable.”

She said some in the field are analysts looking for unusual activity, some focus on protecting systems in advance, while others work with the police and investigate cybercrime, or work in policy and law.

She added: “Some even focus on psychology, which helps people to understand why people fall for certain scams and how attackers think.”

Cha’von Clarke-Joell works in the areas of AI ethics and governance, and data protection in Britain.

In a recorded video, she said: “I am passionate about human-AI interaction.

“AI ethics seeks to ensure that AI systems are fair, safe and accountable.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the human who is making the decision.

“A key part of my work includes talking about the unintended consequences of technology adoption and we see bias, increased surveillance, misinformation … these are all topics that are highly important in IT and AI development.”

She said that having a degree is a “baseline” that demonstrates you can function and learn at a certain level, but added: “You don’t have to have a degree in this day and age, but having certifications in IT is very, very important, along with experience.”

Ashley Cruz-Singh is a business analyst from Puerto Rico whose family moved to Ohio to give her a better chance academically.

She knew from a young age that the traditional role of the woman in the home was not for her, so she packed her bags and moved to New York and then Washington DC to pursue her education.

Ms Cruz-Singh, who has lived in Bermuda for five years, said: “I am living proof that you don’t have to go to Stanford [University], MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] or have all this data-packing ability.

“I’m living proof that you don’t have to be any of those things. You can be a Puerto Rican living in New York, moving to DC by yourself and taking a chance.”

She said she “talks to departments that are not talking to each other” and figures out ways for organisations to operate better.

“I work at the intersection of people, workflow and technology.”

The students were presented with scenarios related to digital security such as whether AI could be trusted to determine if a student should be placed in an advanced class based on certain factors such as grades, behaviour and attendance.

Pupils said that while AI is good at numbers, teachers play a more hands-on role in a student’s life.

The participating students were told of the importance of having an online professional profile on LinkedIn, a platform where recruiters seek out talent, where opportunities are posted and where professional contacts are made.

Erin Telford-Brangman, a pupil at The Berkeley Institute in her third year, said: “I was inspired hearing women talking about not letting the boundaries in being a minority stop us.

“It’s good to see role models that can help us because we want to be in these spaces, we want to be powerful and we want to be leaders. They are showing us we can.”

Heading to a speed-networking session at the conference, Ms Telford-Brangman, who is taking accounting and marketing classes, said she hoped to connect with Ms Cruz-Singh.

“I really enjoyed her advice to me about how to keep going and speak up in rooms. I really think she can help me with some insightful information.”

The event continued in the afternoon with breakout workshops in AI, cybersecurity and robotics.