On Women’s Day: Focus on digital literacy for women inclusion

UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2022 report showed that $1 trillion had been shaved from the GDP of low-and middle-income countries in the last decade due to women’s exclusion from the digital world.

This challenge is the focus of International Women’s Day 2023. The UN calls on us to address the inclusion of women in the field of technology and innovation.

Digital technology development has been fast, but its adoption by women has been slow, meaning they do not receive complete digital literacy.

Bridging the digital gender divide requires an inclusive design considering data limitations, devices used, content consumption, and digital literacy levels when creating products, solutions and content.

According to Times of India, the tech industry in India is better positioned for gender parity, with decision-makers realizing a diverse workforce encourages innovation.

Organizations are using initiatives such as digital academies to build the digital skills of their employees and create awareness of safety protocols to draw more women into the digital space.

Technology combined with women’s emotional intelligence is necessary to reach sustainable goals; investments in infrastructure, policies, teacher training and equipment need to follow suit to enable the effective integration of digital literacy into school curriculums.