he digital transformation is reshaping businesses and entire industries at an unprecedented rate, revolutionizing everything from entertainment to operational processes to interactions and decision-making in ways that can save time and money. Amid this immense promise there are also concerns that the so-called digital divide could grow much wider without major and deliberate efforts for inclusivity. The gender aspect of this digital divide is significant and is reflected in ways many take for granted. For example, global studies confirm that fewer women and girls have internet access or mobile phones than men and boys, and disparities are larger in low-income countries. Realizing the full potential of the digital transformation requires we ensure that women and other historically marginalized groups are empowered and enabled to both contribute and benefit more fully.
Women’s active participation in the digital economy is about more than just gender equality and financial inclusion. It represents a strategic imperative for fostering sustainable economic growth, with the potential of adding many trillions of dollars to the global GDP in coming years. Today, impediments to women’s full participation in the digital economy—such as limited resources, limited access to the internet, inadequate digital skills, and online gender–based harassment—threaten that potential for growth and even worsen existing social and economic disparities. Those are just some of the issues that led G20 nations to pledge last year that they will pursue efforts to halve the digital gender gap by 2030.
How can that be accomplished in such a small amount of time?
A number of new initiatives are moving the needle, not just for working women, but also the world’s many women entrepreneurs. By most accounts, the majority of women–owned businesses are micro, small, or medium–sized enterprises (MSMEs). Frequent market barriers reported by the World Bank and others include access to credit or financing and e-commerce opportunities, challenges many women believe they could address more easily if they had better digital skills.
Here are three key approaches to bridging digital services that include a range of actions from the local to the global level:
Inclusive program design
Partnering with relevant stakeholders like regional women’s organizations, community groups, and area business associations is helping many countries and communities ensure that training programs for local women are customized to their needs. For example, women typically shoulder disproportionate childcare and household responsibilities, which makes it challenging to participate in activities outside the home during the workday. The most successful programs tend to offer flexible scheduling (evenings, weekends) and childcare options that reduce accessibility barriers and can encourage broader participation. Women’s business resource centers in Guatemala and Papua New Guinea are among the promising new models. The locations offer safe work and training spaces with basic office equipment such as computers and printers as well as daycare facilities. Women who go there have the basic tools they need and time to focus on learning new skills and get mentorship. These are programs that offer peer–to–peer experiences foster a sense of community and empower women to navigate the digital landscape confidently.
Practical skills and application
In many locations, dedicated digital literacy building programs are helping to address anxieties about technology, including online gender–based violence and harassment, thereby fostering a supportive learning environment. For instance, the Philippines government has incorporated online training modules and made them available to the country’s estimated 30,000 MSMEs as part of its e–commerce roadmap. Such offerings can equip women entrepreneurs with the basic skills to compete in the digital marketplace by utilizing tools that many take for granted: email, word processing, digital marketing, and online payments. They can also learn about digital rights and online risks, cybersecurity, personal online safety, intellectual property protection actions, ethics, and more.
Equal access to technology
Encouraging the use of digital tools and platforms among women–owned businesses is essential for their competitiveness and growth. Policy initiatives that promote access to affordable devices and reliable internet connections further incentivize technology adoption amongst women. Affordability, access, and new tools are among the top aims of a global partnership launched by the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Women in Digital Economy Fund. And multi-nationals such as Visa have launched global programs to digitally enable women-owned small and micro businesses. At the local level, a growing number of leaders and organizations are exploring partnerships with libraries, community centers, and schools to utilize existing computers or leverage available wi–fi access.
In the meantime, dialogues are growing to shape smarter public policies and guidance around education and digital governance matters, keeping in mind how technology may evolve in the coming years both globally and within certain markets. New concerns and developments may either negate or accelerate the needs for certain kinds of training, policies, and exposure. Most experts agree that collaborative efforts among governments, businesses, civil society, and international organizations are essential to progress. The world will be a much brighter place if we can further leverage the talent and creativity of more women, who now make up roughly half of the global population.
a global affairs media network
Bridging the gendered digital divide
Photo by Edho Fitrah on Unsplash
March 7, 2024
The digital divide will grow wider without dedicated efforts to make the digital transformation inclusive, especially in developing economies. Several new initiatives are already underway to empower not just working women but also women entrepreneurs, writes CIPE’s Morgan King.
T
he digital transformation is reshaping businesses and entire industries at an unprecedented rate, revolutionizing everything from entertainment to operational processes to interactions and decision-making in ways that can save time and money. Amid this immense promise there are also concerns that the so-called digital divide could grow much wider without major and deliberate efforts for inclusivity. The gender aspect of this digital divide is significant and is reflected in ways many take for granted. For example, global studies confirm that fewer women and girls have internet access or mobile phones than men and boys, and disparities are larger in low-income countries. Realizing the full potential of the digital transformation requires we ensure that women and other historically marginalized groups are empowered and enabled to both contribute and benefit more fully.
Women’s active participation in the digital economy is about more than just gender equality and financial inclusion. It represents a strategic imperative for fostering sustainable economic growth, with the potential of adding many trillions of dollars to the global GDP in coming years. Today, impediments to women’s full participation in the digital economy—such as limited resources, limited access to the internet, inadequate digital skills, and online gender–based harassment—threaten that potential for growth and even worsen existing social and economic disparities. Those are just some of the issues that led G20 nations to pledge last year that they will pursue efforts to halve the digital gender gap by 2030.
How can that be accomplished in such a small amount of time?
A number of new initiatives are moving the needle, not just for working women, but also the world’s many women entrepreneurs. By most accounts, the majority of women–owned businesses are micro, small, or medium–sized enterprises (MSMEs). Frequent market barriers reported by the World Bank and others include access to credit or financing and e-commerce opportunities, challenges many women believe they could address more easily if they had better digital skills.
Here are three key approaches to bridging digital services that include a range of actions from the local to the global level:
Inclusive program design
Partnering with relevant stakeholders like regional women’s organizations, community groups, and area business associations is helping many countries and communities ensure that training programs for local women are customized to their needs. For example, women typically shoulder disproportionate childcare and household responsibilities, which makes it challenging to participate in activities outside the home during the workday. The most successful programs tend to offer flexible scheduling (evenings, weekends) and childcare options that reduce accessibility barriers and can encourage broader participation. Women’s business resource centers in Guatemala and Papua New Guinea are among the promising new models. The locations offer safe work and training spaces with basic office equipment such as computers and printers as well as daycare facilities. Women who go there have the basic tools they need and time to focus on learning new skills and get mentorship. These are programs that offer peer–to–peer experiences foster a sense of community and empower women to navigate the digital landscape confidently.
Practical skills and application
In many locations, dedicated digital literacy building programs are helping to address anxieties about technology, including online gender–based violence and harassment, thereby fostering a supportive learning environment. For instance, the Philippines government has incorporated online training modules and made them available to the country’s estimated 30,000 MSMEs as part of its e–commerce roadmap. Such offerings can equip women entrepreneurs with the basic skills to compete in the digital marketplace by utilizing tools that many take for granted: email, word processing, digital marketing, and online payments. They can also learn about digital rights and online risks, cybersecurity, personal online safety, intellectual property protection actions, ethics, and more.
Equal access to technology
Encouraging the use of digital tools and platforms among women–owned businesses is essential for their competitiveness and growth. Policy initiatives that promote access to affordable devices and reliable internet connections further incentivize technology adoption amongst women. Affordability, access, and new tools are among the top aims of a global partnership launched by the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Women in Digital Economy Fund. And multi-nationals such as Visa have launched global programs to digitally enable women-owned small and micro businesses. At the local level, a growing number of leaders and organizations are exploring partnerships with libraries, community centers, and schools to utilize existing computers or leverage available wi–fi access.
In the meantime, dialogues are growing to shape smarter public policies and guidance around education and digital governance matters, keeping in mind how technology may evolve in the coming years both globally and within certain markets. New concerns and developments may either negate or accelerate the needs for certain kinds of training, policies, and exposure. Most experts agree that collaborative efforts among governments, businesses, civil society, and international organizations are essential to progress. The world will be a much brighter place if we can further leverage the talent and creativity of more women, who now make up roughly half of the global population.
