Telecom and Information Society Day on Thursday:

More opportunities for women in IT

By Pramod DE SILVA

It is hard to find someone who does not have a mobile phone nowadays. In fact, the number of mobile connections in Sri Lanka exceeds the population. Most households also have a fixed line. A television is found in virtually every home. The Internet can be accessed from anywhere in Sri Lanka if you have an Internet dongle, though soon it would be commonplace as mobile telephony. Satellite phones work almost anywhere on the planet. GPS devices can pinpoint our exact location anywhere, anytime.

In short, we are a highly connected society. Thanks to the advances in telecommunications, the entire world has become one big village. One can call it an Information Society. A few decades ago, visionary Dr Arthur C. Clarke predicted that any overseas call could one day be dialled at the cost of a local call.

We have gone beyond that stage - with technologies such as Skype, you can video-call virtually anyone on Earth free. You can instantly transfer any kind of file to that person via the Internet, again free. That is how closely connected we are.

There is no doubt that rapid advances in telecommunications have made the world a better place. The term ‘a remote place’ may no longer be applicable in a few years because telecommunication devices connect us instantly regardless of location. It does not matter whether you are in Greenland or New Zealand, you can call someone cruising the Amazon instantly.

Digital divides

There still are two types of digital divides – developing nations are lagging behind in ICT (Information and Communication Technology). And in almost every country, women do not enjoy equal status in terms of ICT.

This is why the world needs an opportunity to ponder on these matters. The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) on May 17 is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

Why May 17? It marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunications Union.

World Telecommunications Day has been celebrated annually on May 17 since 1969. By the early part of the 21st century, the ITU realised that a telecom day alone was not enough and that it had to take the rapid rise of the Internet into account.

In November 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society called upon the UN General Assembly to declare May 17 as World Information Society Day to focus on the importance of ICT and the wide range of issues related to the Information Society.

Sadly, not everyone is part of this global telecommunication revolution. There are millions who have never made a telephone call, fixed or mobile. There are millions who do not know what the Internet is. IPads, Tabs and laptop computers are just a dream for these people. The majority of them are women and girls who are usually denied opportunities in the ICT sector.

Girls in ICT Day

'Girls in ICT Day', to be held every year on the fourth Thursday of April from 2012, encourages ITU members to host events where girls and young women are invited to ICT companies and government agencies to appreciate the opportunities the ICT sector holds for their future.

The theme of this year’s WTISD, ‘Women and Girls in ICT’, aims at rectifying this anomaly and ensure that the female half of the world’s population will march forward as equals in the ICT sector.

“This year, on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, we are determined to harness the full potential of ICTs for the benefit of women and girls by eliminating gender disparities and empowering them to meet their goals and aspirations,” says Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Focus this year

“The ITU Council proposed that we focus our efforts this year on women and girls, using the power of ICTs to provide new digital opportunities to end discrimination and empower women and girls to achieve their rightful place as equals in the world. We have to pull together every conceivable resource to ensure that women and girls in every community around the world have full access to ICTs in order to empower them with information and knowledge, to know their rights, and to seize every available digital opportunity,” he adds.

It has been observed that women and girls get few opportunities in the ICT sector. A recent survey in India, where ICT is a major industry, found that only one in every 10 senior management positions is occupied by a woman in the Indian IT sector. The ITU suggests that governments, private sector, donors, civil society and educationists need to acknowledge and support the central role professional women can play in further developing and servicing a dynamic and competitive ICT sector. The growing demand for a range of ICT skills around the globe presents a unique window of opportunity to properly position girls and women in the industry.

Young women should be encouraged to seek new careers within the sector and the ICT industry too should welcome more women into its fold. However, it is not all about jobs. IT tools have become an essential component in education. If more girls attend school, they too can benefit from ICT. Societies where girls are denied such opportunities cannot hope to see much progress.

Rural women engaged in self-employment or other businesses can benefit by having a mobile phone and an online presence. Telemedicine and accurate weather or natural disaster information can be a lifesaver for women in hard-to-reach rural communities. We saw the potential of ICT technologies during the recent tsunami alert. Social networks allow women around the world to add their voice on political and social events and to connect with one another.

Role of governments

Governments and telecom operators have a role to play in taking ICT to women. For example, one mobile operator in Sri Lanka recently introduced a voice and data package especially tailored for women, which is a step in the right direction. We hope that other networks would take the cue from this commendable step. Broadband penetration for Internet access (mobile and fixed) is rather poor in most countries including Sri Lanka and this problem should be addressed to enable more women and girls to reap the benefits of ICT.

These issues are likely to be discussed at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum, due to be held in Geneva from May 14 to 18 with the participation of all ITU Member States. There should be a collective effort by governments worldwide to provide more opportunities for women in ICT.

At regional level, organisations such as SAARC can take the initiative in this regard. For example, it could have career-oriented IT courses targeted for women at the SAARC University. Locally, more girls’ schools should be provided with computer labs. Companies should have training programs on ICT for their staffers, especially women.

Both Internet and telecom technologies are evolving and developing at a rapid pace. It is difficult to predict what the telecom landscape will be like even five years from now. This is an exciting challenge and an opportunity not only for women and girls, but also for everyone else. But getting ICT to reach more women and girls will go a long way in ensuring gender equality and forming a knowledge-based society.