Digital Inclusion of Women: Same Difficulties as in the Real World

She attributes women’s exclusion from the digital revolution to the failure of public policies. “The good news is that this can be reversed,” she noted. She then proposed a series of policies to reduce the digital gender divide: protecting online rights, training women so they will be effectively able to access the Internet, affordable access, ensuring the availability of content that is relevant and empowering to women, and establishing and measuring concrete digital gender equality goals.

A male-dominated world. Meanwhile, María del Carmen Denis Polanco, Head of Telematics Services and Infrastructure at the UADY University’s Information Technology Administrative Coordination Center, observed that, in Mexico, there are just 3 women for every 8 men pursuing ICT related careers.

She added that in order to reverse this situation they are working with a non-profit organization that encourages the participation of girls and women in the technology sector by carrying out different activities and presenting different workshops and talks. One of the ways of attracting women and girls is by sharing the experiences of people already working in the technology sector with young girls who are deciding what to study.

Laura Kaplan, Development and Cooperation Manager at LACNIC, then presented Ayitic Goes Global, a project that uses the Internet as a tool for inclusion and which strengthens capacities and generates opportunities by training women between the ages of 18 and 25 in specific tasks they can use to join different employment markets.

“It’s a very interesting project that shows how we can use the Internet not only as a tool to provide training, but also to connect this training with employment, for example,” said Kaplan.

Efforts towards diversity. Researcher Renata Aquino, LAC representative to the ICANN NCUC Executive Committee, shared her experience when invited to participate in the Internet Freedom Festival Project, a technology conference that encourages collective efforts that support online freedom of expression, protection against digital threats and expanded access to online spaces through diversity, inclusion and collaboration.

“If we are to achieve true diversity we must think about diversity as a whole,” said Aquino, while stressing “the importance of creating alliances among people with different skills and knowledge but who can exchange knowledge regardless of their background.”

To conclude, Raquel Gatto, lawyer and Public Policy Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Internet Society (ISOC), noted that they are not asking for anything special for women and girls, simply equality in Internet access.

She highlighted the Shine the Light campaign, which seeks to celebrate pioneering women and leaders as a source of inspiration for other women. “Celebrating the leaders in our community is very important,” concluded Gatto.