Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in Women Empowerment

Abstract

Out of the five thrust areas earmarked for India’s Vision 2020, the information and communication technologies (ICT), like the other four, have also given us vital tools to achieve our development strategies. These tools and technologies coupled with the power of knowledge can enable women in developing countries to join the battle for economic, social and political empowerment. Already a “digital divide” implying uneven distribution of the technologies within the societies and across the world has set in, upsetting the balance of gender equality. Ready access and use of ICT is expected to bridge this “gap” or “divide” to a large extent, provided social and economic benefits are directly linked to these emerging technologies. There are factors like education, financial independence, language barriers, cultural cross-linkages, traditional skills and remoteness of locations, besides cost of technologies, which would determine the participation of women in this sector. Presently, women constitute 31% of the total workforce. NASSCOM has predicted that male-female ratio by the year 2005 would be 65 to 35, which indicates towards a healthy trend. But, the socio-economic disparity would not be removed by these statistics alone. A Herculean task lies ahead to provide ICT to many more segments of women, not considered hitherto. While it is being strongly felt that women take up the challenges of ICT, the problems at the grass-root level also cannot be ignored. Women’s participation in ICT may be in the form of dedicated users, workers, entrepreneurs, technical service facilitators, inventors, managers and policy makers. Information and communication have been playing an increasingly important role in economic and social development of nations. Experts believe that this century belongs to the power of Knowledge & Information. On one side, the recent developments in communication technology have drastically reduced the geographical barriers, while on the other side computers have enormously enhanced the capacity to accumulate and access information. The possibilities for information access are infinite. This ‘information society’ has grown in the last one decade in leaps & bounds breaking many existing paradigms and creating an image of “indispensability” in our lives.