Gender And Icts For Development

Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics & activists who have investigated situations within their own communities & countries.

Around the world, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have changed the lives of individuals, organizations, and, indeed, entire nations. ICTs can have profound implications for women and men in terms of employment, education, health, environmental sustainability, and community development. Because of systemic gender biases in ICTs and their applications, women are far more likely than men to experience discrimination in the new information society. In spite of this, resource-poor and non-literate women and their organizations are aware of the power of information technologies and communication processes, and are using them to advance their basic needs and strategic interests, improve their livelihoods, and help them achieve their human rights. Gender and ICTs for Development brings together case studies about women and their communities in developing countries and how they have been influenced by, and have used, ICTs in development. An introduction by Helen Hambly Odame, now at the University of Guelph in Canada, formerly with the International Service for National Agricultural Research, provides a global overview of the issues, and a framework for responding to the case studies. This book, the seventh of these Global Sourcebooks, features five major case studies which examine the diverse ways in which women have been able to make the most of digital opportunities: * e-commerce in Bhutan; * entrepreneurship by women workers in China; * post-conflict communication using radio and ICTs in Sierra Leone; * sustainable fisheries production in Ghana; and * information exchange related to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. The extensive and up-to-date critical bibliography of print and online resources makes this a truly global sourcebook on the topic. Published in association with KIT Publishers.

"This book discusses theoretical aspects of gender issues in ICT and presents a number of case studies from various countries, covering topics such as social networking, ICT use among women, the digital divide, and theoretical approaches to gender gaps and ICT"--Provided by publisher.

This paper reviews how women in the developing world access and use information and communication technology (ICT). It examines the discourse and controversies surrounding the digital gender divide, including links to poverty and illiteracy. Major themes concerning women and ICTs are explored, such as women in the ICT workforce, how girls and women relate differently to ICT, and opportunities and barriers for women in science and technology in general. Current research relating to gender and ICT is often country-specific and is more prevalent in developed countries than in developing countries. This paper suggests where additional research is needed on barriers to women s entry and access to ICT. The overall objective of this paper is to influence policy dialogue around women and ICT for development by raising awareness of the digital gender divide. Economic opportunity for women in ICT will not be realized until policies address gender considerations and ensure that ICT investment contributes to more sustainable and equitable development.

Despite advancements in technological and engineering fields, there is still a digital gender divide in the adoption, use, and development of information communication technology (ICT) services. This divide is also evident in educational environments and careers, specifically in the STEM fields. In order to mitigate this divide, policy approaches must be addressed and improved in order to encourage the inclusion of women in ICT disciplines. Gender Gaps and the Social Inclusion Movement in ICT provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of gender and policy from developed and developing country perspectives and its applications within ICT through various forms of research including case studies. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as digital identity, human rights, and social inclusion, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, academicians, researchers, students, and technology developers seeking current research on gender inequality in ICT environments.

While the digital revolution is reaching rural areas in many developing countries, the rural digital divide continues to present considerable challenges. The problem is even more acute for women, who face a triple divide: digital, rural and gender. This publication looks at the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) when placed in the hands of men and women working in agriculture and in rural areas. It examines the challenges to be overcome and makes recommendations so that rural communities can take full and equal advantage of the technologies. FAO’s E-agriculture 10 Year Review Report on implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) of the Action Line C7. ICT Applications: e-agriculture concludes that while substantial progress has been made in making ICTs available and accessible for rural communities, challenges remain with respect to the following seven critical factors for success: content, capacity development, gender and diversity, access and participation, partnerships, technologies, and finally, economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This publication analyses with the gender lens the seven factors of success, followed by an overview of the general existing barriers to women’s access to, control and use of ICTs. Finally, it offers a series of recommendations for better integration of gender in ICT initiatives, based on gender mainstreaming throughout the seven critical factors of success, illustrated with concrete examples

Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa

A new framework for assessing the role of information and communication technologies in development that draws on Amartya Sen's capabilities approach. Information and communication technologies (ICTs)--especially the Internet and the mobile phone--have changed the lives of people all over the world. These changes affect not just the affluent populations of income-rich countries but also disadvantaged people in both global North and South, who may use free Internet access in telecenters and public libraries, chat in cybercafes with distant family members, and receive information by text message or email on their mobile phones. Drawing on Amartya Sen's capabilities approach to development--which shifts the focus from economic growth to a more holistic, freedom-based idea of human development--Dorothea Kleine in Technologies of Choice? examines the relationship between ICTs, choice, and development. Kleine proposes a conceptual framework, the Choice Framework, that can be used to analyze the role of technologies in development processes. She applies the Choice Framework to a case study of microentrepreneurs in a rural community in Chile. Kleine combines ethnographic research at the local level with interviews with national policy makers, to contrast the high ambitions of Chile's pioneering ICT policies with the country's complex social and economic realities. She examines three key policies of Chile's groundbreaking Agenda Digital: public access, digital literacy, and an online procurement system. The policy lesson we can learn from Chile's experience, Kleine concludes, is the necessity of measuring ICT policies against a people-centered understanding of development that has individual and collective choice at its heart.