JUMADA-AWWAL 7, 1429 A.H.
TUESDAY, MAY 13 2008
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Women in ICT: Moving up the value chain
By Jide Awe
Are there opportunities for women in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), industry? Or is the ICT profession a male affair? ICTs are indispensable tools used by all to deal with the limitations of time, cost and distance.
In addition, many are using ICTs to solve problems and create new opportunities.
We live in the age where quality access to information and knowledge is key to survival and performance. Individuals, organizations and governments all need and use ICT to be faster, more cost effective and efficient. ICT is the infrastructure of the knowledge economy.
However, there are various challenges associated with ICTs.
Inconsistencies in the exploitation and deployment of ICTs are a major concern – the digital divide. For example what has been the impact of women in ICT?
In many societies, women are still unable to realize their potentials. Goal three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is to ”Promote gender equality and empower women”. What is the role of ICT in the economic and social development of women? Obviously, there is a direct relationship between the empowerment of women and reduction of poverty.
Because of its unique benefits, ICT has been recognized as a tool for empowering men and women. But this notion is grounded in reality? Is ICT hurting or helping women?
Digital gender divide?
How empowered are women to make their contributions in society?
Women play a vital role in society so can we really create wealth and provide opportunities through ICT if women are digitally excluded? Can women really be empowered without quality access to information? Already these information and knowledge gaps exist in the emerging knowledge society and the majority of women - rural and urban - don’t appear to be on the right side of the divide.
Let’s face it ICT is nothing without access. To get the benefits of ICT, you must have access. Availability or physical access isn’t enough.
Access - ability to utilize, ability to work, learn, interact and create with the information and resources provided. Fewer women are accessing and using computers and the Internet compared to men.
The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, September 2005 publication, “Women 2000 and beyond”, confirms that “Women are in the minority of users in almost all developed and developing countries”.
ICT for all?
ICT is the key resource of the information society. Without real access to technology, there is a limit to how and what women can contribute.
Access needs to improve – availability and quality. More women, especially in the rural and informal sector, need to use ICT to get things done in their lives and work. The mobile phone is a start, but ICT goes beyond receiving and making calls on the mobile phone.
Women must be active ICT participants - users, professionals, creators, producers and entrepreneurs. To make a difference, women must engage in productive ICT and ICT-driven activities – usage and production. ICT isn’t just for ICT professionals.
The knowledge revolution demands knowledge professionals, knowledge workers – ICT savvy individuals in virtually all sectors.
There is nothing wrong with ICT consumption if used to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Or if it gives you advantage in terms of creative options. If we don’t want to go the way of the dinosaur, we all need to use these knowledge tools to get ahead. You can’t solve tomorrow’s problems using yesterday’s tools.
Consume or contribute?
In different fields and professions – commerce, law, medicine, agriculture, accountancy, sports, entertainment, media, etc (e-education, e-health, e-business, etc) – women can use ICT to enable growth, create wealth, increase productivity and create new opportunities.
Because ICT is so critical to the knowledge economy, you simply can't function at your best if you don't understand, adopt and grasp ICT. Are you a driver in the knowledge system? Then you should use ICT to drive your career and business up and your cost and challenges down.
However, while the usage of ICT is important, it’s not just about consumption. The issue is not consume or contribute – it’s consume, contribute and create. Any nation that wants to be taken seriously in the global world must have highly skilled human capital that develops, creates and supports technology products and services.
Women in the ICT industry
How many women are building careers in this interesting and exciting field? Make no mistake; there are women making great strides in ICT. Indeed we must acknowledge and commend the efforts of women who are contributing immensely in ICT such as Mrs. Florence Seriki, CEO, Omatek Computers, Nigeria and Dr. (Mrs) Adenike Osofisan, president of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN). But the issue is not that there are no women making a difference in ICT. Rather, are there women in sufficient numbers to make a difference? What proportion of women compared to men are active participants in the technology sector? And in which areas do they predominate?
Where are the majority of women in the ICT value chain? What do women do where they are? Are women in ICT realizing their potentials? Do women in ICT benefit fully from the career and entrepreneurial opportunities in ICT?
Of particular interest, are specialist areas which include, Software development, Database, Web development, Network infrastructure, Technical support, Telecom engineering, etc. There is high and steady demand for experienced professionals and entrepreneurs in these fields. And these areas tend to be well-respected, very creative, and rewarding, with excellent opportunities for growth.
In this respect, what page are the ICT firms on? Even in organizations with heavy information needs that invest heavily in ICT such as government agencies, banks and oil companies, how many women work as ICT specialists and in what proportion compared to men, in such organizations?
The situation in most ICT and ICT-driven firms is that fewer women work as ICT professionals in the specialist areas mentioned. There are also fewer women at the top, i.e. top-level management positions within the ICT sector, as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), IT Directors or IT Managers.
More women need to be in positions where they can influence ICT management and policy.
Sweat, stress or value
The reality is that most women working in such organizations contribute but tend to predominate in non-technical areas such as customer service, business development, marketing, etc.
And in the technical areas they work mainly in the routine jobs (lower tech value) working as telephone, data entry and desk top publishing operators.
Women in ICT are contributing. But the reality is that the majority of women working in ICT are not involved in the creative and growth areas of ICT. The work many women ICT do in ICT may be stressful and sweaty, resulting in physical and mental burnout.
But how critical or creative is such work, compared to other opportunities in the sector? And typically what are the prospects? For growth? How challenging are such opportunities? As noted earlier there are much fewer women compared to men in the areas of control and decision-making in ICT.
Jide Awe, online entrepreneur, heads Jidaw Systems (Mastercomputers) ICT training institution, in Nigeria. He is the Founder of the Jidaw.com web initiative (http://www.jidaw.com).
Source: nigeriavillagesquare.com
