Emerging Issues and New Directions on Women and ICT

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Emerging Issues and New Directions on Women and
ICT

• 2000.6.22.
• Kio Chung Kim
• kiochkim_at_sookmyung.ac.kr
• Asian Pacific Womens Information Network Center
  (APWINC) http//apwin.women.or.kr
• Sookmyung Womens University
• KOREA

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UN Women 2000 -women media Outcome Documents -
Obstacles (1)

• Negative, violent and/or degrading images of
  women have increased in different forms using new
  communication technologies.
• Poverty, the lack of access and opportunities,
  illiteracy, lack of computer literacy and
  language barriers, prevent some women from using
  the information and communication technologies,
  including the Internet.

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UN Women 2000 -women media Outcome Documents -
Obstacles (2)

• Development of and access to Internet
  infrastructure is limited especially in
  developing countries and particularly for women.

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UN Women 2000 -women media Outcome Documents
Further Initiatives and Action Plans- Actions (1)

• 134 a. Cooperate and work with private sector
  partners and media networks at national and
  international levels to promote equal access for
  women and men as producers and consumers,
  particularly in the area of ICTs.

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UN Women 2000 -women media Outcome Documents
Further Initiatives and Action Plans- Actions (2)

• 134 b. Develop programmes that support womens
  ability to create, access and promote networking,
  in particular through the use of new information
  and communications technology

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UN Women 2000 -women media Outcome Documents
Further Initiatives and Action Plans- Actions (3)

• 134 h. Capitalize on the new information
  technologies, including the Internet, to improve
  the global sharing of information, research,
  strengths, lessons learned from womens
  experiences

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Challenge to Develop Knowledge based Society

• Economic incentives and institutions that promote
  flexibility and entrepreneurship to create and
  make effective use of knowledge
• ? Educated, skilled and creative people
• ? A dynamic information infrastructure
• ? An effective national innovation system

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Challenges Bridging the ICT Gap

• How to bridge the information and technological
  gaps in new ICT.
• the gaps in access between men and women
• between races, socio-economic classes and
  cultures as well.
• How to make ICT more accessible to more people.
• New ICT has been mainly accessible to individuals
  and groups from developed countries, comprising
  only about 20 of the worlds population.

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Challenges Womens Access to ICT

• Ensure the participation of more women from a
  variety of cultures and realities -- as receivers
  as well as providers of information in cyberspace
• Ensure womens access by supporting and promoting
  capacity-building initiatives as well as the
  development of affordable, appropriate and
  culturally and gender sensitive technologies,
  based on research on womens use of ICT.

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Challenges Convergence

• Old New Technologies
• Content People Technical People
• Profit Making Social Responsibilities

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Challenges Representation of Women

• There exists stereotyped representation of Women
  in Cyberspace.
• The creation of cyberspaces for women that
  reflect the various aspects of womens lives and
  experiences must be promoted.

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Challenges Quality Contents in Cyber space

• How to balance the outputs of commercial
  enterprises with non-profit oriented information?
  
• How to build more spaces that promote knowledge
  sharing and learning.
• Cyber-museums, databases, on-line libraries and
  other information rich sites must be developed to
  further make cyberspace a venue for learning

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Guideline of Directions

• Regions and communities must be empowered to find
  their own specific uses and solutions, drawing on
  the experiences of others, but also adapting
  these methods to their own context.

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Directions Strenghten the Infrastructure

• Strengthen the information and communication
  infrastructure of developing countries, as well
  as their ability to generate and disseminate
  content.

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Directions Utilization of ICT

• Enhances the utilisation of information and
  communication for educational, cultural, social
  and economic development.

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Directions Education and Training

• It is important to have training and Education on
  ICT that focus on women to create spaces for
  women to better understand new ICT.
• This will lead to women having more access to ICT
  for information sharing and dissemination on
  womens issues.

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Education and Training Good Practices

• AWORC is holding the second Asian Womens
  Electronic Network Training (WENT 2000).
• Parallel to this, APWINC is holding the Korean
  WENT.
• WENT workshops, to be a womens ICT training
  nucleus from which trainees will be able to
  acquire enough skills on and understanding of
  ICTs to train other women in their own
  sub-regions, countries and communities.

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APWINChttp//apwin.women.or.kr

• Goal promotion of womens status through active
  informaization efforts in Asia-Pacific region.
• UNESCO Chair executing Institution in
  communication technology for women
• (1998.6-2001.6)
• Regional Center of UNDP for Women and ICT
  
• (2000.6- ... )

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APWINChttp//apwin.women.or.kr

• Goal promotion of womens status through active
  informaization efforts in Asia-Pacific region.
• UNESCO Chair executing Institution in
  communication technology for women
• (1998.6-2001.6)
• Regional Center of UNDP for Women and ICT
  
• (2000.6- ... )

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APWINChttp//apwin.women.or.kr

• Sister organization Research Institute of
  AsianWomen http//asianwomen.org
• Memebership in Asian Womens Resouce Exchange
  http//jca.apc.org/aworc
• Global membership in WomenAction
  http//www.womeaction.org

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Womens Informatization

• ICT Training Programs for Specific Interest
  Groups
• Training to become ICT professionals
• Forming a Nucleus to disseminate and amplify
  information

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Gender-focused Project

• Web Information Service System to support Womens
  Informatization
• National policy project 1998.12 - 2000.2
• Training Woman ICT Specialists
• MIC project 1998.11 - Present
• Infra Structures to support Informatization of
  Womens Organizations
• Research Project supported by the Presidential
  Commission on Womens Affairs1999.11 - 1999.12

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International ICT workshop / meeting

• WENT99 (Asian Womens Electronic Network
  Training Workshop) 1999.6.21-25
• Global WENT99 (Global Womens Electronic Network
  Training Workshop)1999.9.27-10.2
• AWORC 2000 in Seoul (The 3rd Asian Womens
  Resource Exchange Meeting) 2000.2.13-2.16

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International Symposium Forum

• Women in the Electronic Net1999.6.26
• Global Electronic Net for Women 2000 Strategies
  1999.9.30
• Education New ICT Strategies for Womens
  Informatization, 1999.10.13
• Seoul International NGO Conference
• 21C Womens Movement From Ground to Cyberspace
  , 1999.11.25
• AWORC Forum Web Site Interface Multilingual DB

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Web Information Service System for supporting
Womens Informatization

• Active-Bridge System (http//search.women.or.kr)
  
• Womens Informaion Directory Service
• Consulting System (http//consulting.women.or.kr)
• On Line self-learning and consulting system for
  ICT
• Web DB (http//web.women.or.kr)
• applies new multimedia technology Traditional
  Culture, History

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Womens Electronic Network Training workshop
Asian Pacific WENT2000June 19-25, 2000

• Organized by AWORC, APWINC
• Hosted by APWINC, Sookmyung Womens University
• Sponsored by UNESCAP
• the 30 trainees and 13 trainers from womens
  organisations in East, South, Southeast Asia and
  Pacific
• Three tracks Web, Network, and Database

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Womens Electronic Network Training workshop
Korean WENT2000Network Promotion through
Informatizartion of Womens OrganizationJune
20-23, 2000

• Organized by APWINC, The Presidential Commission
  on Womens Affairs
• Hosted by APWINC, Sookmyung Womens University
• 30 trainees from Korean womens organizations
• Web-site Development, Networking
• networking with information leaders from
  Asia-Pacific region

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International SymposiumNew Directions for Women
in the Digital Society Womens Knowledge
NetworkJune 22, 2000

• Organized by APWINC, AWORC
• Hosted by APWINC, Sookmyung Womens University
• Sponsored by The Presidential Comission on
  Womens Affairs, UNESCAP
• vision of women and ICT beyond women2000
• status on ICT for women and womens knowledge
  network (national / regional reports)
• women leadership programs for digital society
• Tutorial1internet technologies for e-biz and
  e-service
• Tutorial2 real-time internet broadcasting

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International E-Biz ForumDistinguished Lecture
Series

• Organized by APWINC, Graduate School of
  Information Communication
• Hosted by APWINC, Sookmyung Womens University
• Sponsored by Korea Network Information Center
• To enhance the technological empowerment through
  digital networking
• E-Biz strategies could be adopted for womens
  organizations
• to enhance knowledge network

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Regional Global ICT Centerfor Women

• International ICT training and networking
• WENT (national, regional, global level)
• WE-Biz (national, regional, global level)
• Internet gateway of global women's information
• Integrated cyber women's information service
• Cyber Global Women's leadership program
• Internship Program
• Cyber Model UN CSW

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Knowledge

• Knowledge incubates in the Human Mind and when
  applied innovatively becomes a factor
  of growth and development.

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Knowledge Use

• Whoever manages the knowledge better and uses it
  more innovatively will reap the maximum benefits
  of it.
• Knowledge has different values for different
  users
• The ability and vision of the end user to
  recognise and embrace the differentiated values
  of knowledge and put it to gainful use is
  important.

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Knowledge Sharing

• Knowledge does not remain confined within a
  private domain or a geographical boundary- it
  becomes a freely exchangeable public good.
• At the same time we must recognize the importance
  of intellectual Property rights.

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Knowledge Networking

• Knowledge networking aims to popularise and
  facilitate knowledge networking countries for
  overall human development through the
  amalgamation of ICT.
• The use and propagation of ICT models for
  creating an open system for recognising, valuing,
  enriching and sharing of local knowledge, in
  parallel with human capacity building efforts.

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References

• Marcelle, Gillian M. Transforming Information and
  Communication Technologies for Gender Equality.
  Gender in Development Monograph Series 9 May
  2000.
• The Global Knowledge Womens Forum Transcending
  the Gender Information Divide. United Nations
  Development Programme - Asia Pacific Gender
  Equality Network, 2000.
• Ramilo, Chat Garcia. Gender and Information and
  Communication Technologies. ltwww.ased.orggt, 2000
• http//www.orbicom.uqam.ca/en/conference/an.overvi
  ew.of.new.comm.pdf
• http//www.orbicom.uqam.ca/en/conference/action.ht
  ml
• http//www.womenaction.org/ungass.html
• http//www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/finalout
  come.pdf
• http//women.or.kr/e-bizforum