1. Information and Communication Technologies for Women’s Socio- economic empowerment Comments Nistha Sinha June 16, 2009

2. Two comments Scope of the chapter/paper Data/Evidence 2

3. Scope of the paper Covers two substantive areas First: Gender difference in use of ICT Second: Women’s employment in ICT- enabled industries Why is it important to distinguish between the two? Policy implications are different! Framework for analysis are different 3

4. Data and evidence Focusing my comments on adoption and use of ICT ICT ≠ internet Data source matters Data on internet use from market research firms, national government statistics and industry organizations tend to show larger gender gaps Household survey data tend to show smaller gender gaps Gender differences not apparent in all countries Important to review barriers such as education and income Example of Philippines, LAC countries (high female education) ICT usage and impacts mirror pre-existing gender differences 4

5. CountryFemale share of usersSource USA52Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Canada52Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Thailand51NECTEC New Zealand49Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 South Africa49Webchek, NUA (1/02) Australia48Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Finland48Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 South Korea47Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Sweden46Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Denmark45Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Ireland45Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 UK45Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Norway44Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Brazil44Nielsen NetRatings, 5/02 Mexico42Nielsen NetRatings,5/02 India23NASSCOM, 2000 Indonesia20 Indonesian Association of Internet Providers Table 2.3: Female share of home internet users based on data from market research and industry associations, selected countries Source: Hafkin (2003), cited in stocktaking report (SDN-PRMGE, forthcoming) 5

6. Table 2.4: Usage of internet, computers and mobile phones by men and women in Brazil, Dominican Republic and Mexico (From household surveys) Brazil (2005)Mexico (2006) Dominican Republic (2005) MenWomenMenWomenMenWomen Percent using computers 32.0%29.0%28.4%28.0% Percent using the internet22%20% 21.3%18.6%17.9%15.1% Place of use of internet house50% 33%34%19.9%20.7% work place43%36% 27%22%32.1%31.0% educational establishment24%28% 17%15%30.0%37.9% another person's house0% 2%3%31.7%23.6% local community center10% 1% 8.8%6.9% commercial place24%20% 40%43%46.2%36.4% Other31% 0% 1.4%1.9% Use of mobile of telephone58.4%50.4% na 56.6%57.4% Source: OSILAC, cited in stocktaking report (SDN-PRMGE, forthcoming) 6

7. 15-to-19-Year-Olds Who Regularly Receive Print or Broadcast News Percent Exposure to mass media Source: ORC Macro, Demographic and Health Surveys. PRB Graphics Bank 7

8. Wrapping up my comments Refine scope Separate the discussion between use of ICT and employment in ITES sector Cite existing evidence Build evidence Analyze available household survey information on barriers to use and adoption Carry out qualitative studies Thank you! 8