Fatimata Seye Sylla is the director of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

's Digital Freedom Initiative, a council member for the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa, and the Senegal National Coordinator of the African Civil Society for the Information Society.

Career Background

She is a former member of the At-Large Advisory Committee for

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

, where she represented Senegal, and advocated there for greater involvement of the developing world with Internet governance. She also served on the board of the

CATIA CATIA (, an acronym of computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application) is a multi-platform software suite for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), 3D modeling and product li ...

(Catalyzing Access To ICTS in Africa) initiative, a program that worked to support ICT initiatives and their directors across African countries. Best known for championing the use of

information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

(ICT) in the Senegalese education system; Seye Sylla began the first nationwide program to introduce ICT in Senegalese schools. She has also worked as an Internet access advocate with the United Nations, the

Panos Network The Panos Network (originally called Panos Institute) is a network of independent non-governmental institutes working "to ensure that information is effectively used to foster public debate, pluralism and democracy" (see Communication for Develop ...

, and the

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

. Her activism in Senegal has also included work with the

Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. It has offices in Reston, Virginia, United States, and Geneva, Switzerland. Organization The Internet Society ...

and founding

OSIRIS Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

, a pro-ICT initiative.

Education

Seye Sylla was educated at the

University of Le Havre Le Havre Normandy University () is a French university located in Le Havre. Along with five other schools, Le Havre Normandy University is a member of Normandy University, an association of universities and higher education institutions. Identi ...

, where she earned a degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

; CESAG Dakar, where she earned a degree in Management; and MIT, where she earned a Master of Science. Her writing includes analysis of the difference between boys and girls in how they use ICT and development of methods for attracting more young women to technology and fields where they are underrepresented. These include properly training women and girls via the education system, encouraging women to build websites, involving the government and policymakers, and having telecommunications companies provide discounts as an incentive for women.

Publications & Recognition

* Computers and literacy in Senegal * Speaker at AIS 2018 at Dakar

References

External links

* . GenderIT.org. Seye Sylla speaking at the Global Internet Governance Forum, Vilnius, Lithuania, September 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seye Sylla, Fatimata Senegalese politicians Senegalese activists Senegalese women activists Senegalese educators Senegalese women educators Living people Senegalese women computer scientists 21st-century Senegalese scientists 21st-century Senegalese women scientists Year of birth missing (living people)