WIGSAT || Women, technology and the knowledge economy


SEWA www.sewa.org

Measuring Infostates for Development: Gender-specific Data and Indicators on ICT Use and Needs

World Summit on the Information Society
November 17, 2005

The economic and societal transformations of the Information Society touch all facets of daily life - economic, social, political, and cultural. ICTs facilitate information sharing and knowledge management and also provide individuals, businesses and governments with the essential networks to overcome the challenges of distance and time. Industries that manufacture and supply ICTs now make up a measurable sector of many national economies. The wide-ranging applications and effects of the Information Society have enormous implications, both positive and negative, for gender equality and women's empowerment. Information about the extent, nature and consequences of the gendered nature of the digital divide is critical if existing disparities are to be reduced and the Millennium Development Goals achieved. However ICT measurements and comparative country analyses in this area have been extremely scarce.

This panel presented the results of two ongoing studies by Orbicom and Regentic (IDRC) to: collect and assess existing sex-disaggregated data on women's participation in the information society at the international level; generate and analyse qualitative and quantitative data on women's participation in the information society at the national level; provide qualitative analysis on the factors affecting women's participation and being to suggest qualitative and quantitative indicators for measuring gendered patterns in participation in the information society.

Sponsored by the Canadian International Development AGency, International Telecommunications Union, Orbicom, Global Knowledge Partnership, International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

• Statistical evidence and analysis of the gender digital divide, Heidi Ertl and Heather Dryburgh, Statistics Canada
• Qualitative analysis: Gender dimensions of the digital divide, Sophia Huyer and Nancy Hafkin, WIGSAT
• Mesurer la fracture numerique de genre en Afrique francophone, Marie-Helene Mottin-Sylla, ENDA-SYNFEV

The full chapter, Women in the Information Society, in From the Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity: Measuring Infostates for Development, Orbicom.