Technology and women: Using ICT for gender empowerment

This paper analyses the role of technology and ICT interventions in the empowerment of women. Technology has not only changed the way people conduct businesses but also has influenced people’s thinking, behaviour, and how they communicate. Technology has been associated with changes in the globe, and for women who now face significant barriers to accessing, utilising, and owning technology, it has the potential to be a game changer. While new technologies have enormous potential to expand economic prospects, from the development of high-tech companies that support and generate skilled jobs, to mobile and digital technologies that enable commerce and access to regional and worldwide markets. The question then becomes: Can technology actually help women’s empowerment? What effect does it have on their lives, secondly? Technology now plays a significant part in the advancement of women and offers prospects for their empowerment in this post-modern period. ICTs have the ability to facilitate information sharing and provide marginalised groups in society more influence but the question is whether everyone benefits from it. There is no doubt that ICT initiatives like Kudumbsree in Kerala or e-Seva centres in Andhra Pradesh were a great success in connecting the women especially those from marginalized section to the modern world using the power of technology, but we cannot ignore the fact that the reach of these initiatives are more localized, generally limited to villages in the vicinity of urban hubs and it seldom reaches the remote locations. This further increases the digital divide by limiting the access of ICT to only a small section of rural women. Hence, there is a need for a shift in policy, both at central and state level in order to make the benefits of ICT accessible to all and bridging the digital divide. This paper tries to find out the ways in which ICT can act as an effective tool for women empowerment and gives insight into some of the successful ICT initiatives across the country. The study also provides suggestion and policy recommendations for increasing the adoption and usage of ICT by women.