Open Forum #54 Closing the gender divide for inclusive economic growth

Summary

This panel discussion focused on closing the gender digital divide and promoting women’s inclusion in technology and digital spaces. Participants from various sectors, including government, international organizations, and civil society, shared insights and experiences.

Key barriers to closing the gender digital divide were identified, including lack of access to digital skills training, cultural and social norms discouraging women from tech fields, and lack of trust in women’s capabilities in the tech sector. The panel emphasized the need for multifaceted approaches, including regulatory frameworks, financial mechanisms, and community-driven initiatives to address these challenges.

Several concrete initiatives were highlighted, such as Namibia’s efforts to use existing infrastructure like libraries and post offices for digital skills training, and Estonia’s early digitalization journey that included creating computer classes in schools. The importance of role models and mentorship for women in tech was stressed, as well as the need to encourage women’s entrepreneurship in the sector.

The discussion also touched on the role of international frameworks like the EU Gender Action Plan and the Global Digital Compact in promoting gender equality in digital spaces. Panelists called for collaboration between public and private sectors, as well as civil society, to create inclusive digital policies and initiatives.

The panel concluded with calls to action, including encouraging girls to pursue STEM fields, supporting women-led tech initiatives, and ensuring online spaces are safe and respectful of human rights. Overall, the discussion emphasized the critical importance of closing the gender digital divide for inclusive economic growth and social progress.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The persistent gender digital divide and barriers to women’s participation in technology

– The need for multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, private sector, civil society and communities to address the digital gender gap

– The importance of role models, education and skills training to empower women and girls in tech

– Regulatory frameworks and policies to promote gender inclusivity in the digital space

– Community-driven and bottom-up approaches to digital development that center women’s needs

Overall purpose:

The purpose of this panel discussion was to examine the challenges of the gender digital divide and explore solutions and best practices for promoting women’s inclusion and empowerment in the digital economy and technology sector.

Tone:

The overall tone was serious but optimistic. Speakers acknowledged the significant challenges but shared inspiring examples of progress and expressed determination to continue working towards gender equality in tech. There was a sense of urgency but also hope that through collaborative efforts, the digital gender gap can be closed.

Speakers

– Anda Bologa: Moderator, Center for European Policy Analysis

– Christophe Farnaud: EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

– H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus: Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Namibia

– Roy Eriksson: Global Gateway Ambassador, Finland

– Kedi Välba: Chair for Europe of the D4D Hub Private Sector Advisory Group and CEO of Aktors

– Radka Sibille: Digital Counsellor at the EU Delegation to the UN, Geneva

– Ravin Rizgar: Founder and Director of Suli Innovation House

– Valeria Betancourt: Programs Manager, Association for Progressive Communication

Additional speakers:

– Peter Zanga Jackson Jr. : From Liberia

– Damilare Oydele: Works with Library Aid Africa

– Catherine Mumma: Senator from Kenya

Closing the Gender Digital Divide: A Multifaceted Approach

This panel discussion, moderated by Anda Bologa from the Center for European Policy Analysis, brought together experts from government, international organisations, and civil society to address the persistent gender digital divide and explore strategies for promoting women’s inclusion in technology and digital spaces.

The Scope of the Problem

EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Christophe Farnaud, set the stage with sobering statistics, noting that globally, there are 244 million more men than women using the Internet. Moreover, women comprise only about 25% of the tech workforce, with an even starker disparity in leadership positions where women hold only 11% of executive roles. These figures underscored the urgency of the discussion and the need for concerted action across multiple sectors.

Key Barriers to Closing the Gender Digital Divide

Participants identified several significant barriers hindering women’s participation in the digital economy:

1. Limited Access to Digital Skills Training: H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus, Namibian Minister for ICT, emphasised that the lack of opportunities for girls and women to learn essential digital skills is a primary impediment to closing the gender gap.

2. Societal and Cultural Barriers: Minister Theofelus also highlighted the religious and cultural obstacles that discourage girls from pursuing technical fields, noting that such career choices are often viewed as anomalies.

3. Lack of Trust in Women’s Capabilities: Ravin Rizgar, Founder and Director of Suli Innovation House, pointed out the pervasive lack of confidence in women’s abilities within the tech sector.

4. Underrepresentation in Leadership Roles: Radka Sibille, Digital Affairs Advisor at the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva, stressed the shortage of women in tech leadership and decision-making positions.

5. Structural Discrimination: Valeria Betancourt, Programs Manager at the Association for Progressive Communication, highlighted the persistent structural discrimination and exclusion faced by women in the tech industry.

Strategies and Stakeholder Roles for Promoting Women’s Inclusion in Tech

The panel discussed various approaches to address these challenges and highlighted the crucial role of different stakeholders:

1. Targeted Education and Training: Minister Theofelus advocated for providing coding camps and digital literacy programmes specifically for girls, emphasising the importance of encouraging STEM education at every opportunity, including informal settings.

2. Leveraging Existing Infrastructure: Several speakers suggested utilising existing facilities like libraries, schools, and post offices to deliver digital skills training and provide internet access points, with Estonia cited as a successful example.

3. Creating Supportive Ecosystems: Ravin Rizgar emphasised the importance of establishing women-focused innovation hubs and support networks, as well as building trust between the private sector and women in tech.

4. Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship: Kedi Välba, Chair for Europe D4D Hub private sector advisory group and CEO of Actors, stressed the need to boost women’s entrepreneurship in the tech sector.

5. Implementing Inclusive Regulatory Frameworks: Valeria Betancourt called for gender-inclusive regulatory frameworks to enable diverse models of connectivity provision, including community-owned infrastructure.

6. Government Initiatives: Minister Theofelus shared Namibia’s efforts to provide digital infrastructure and training.

7. Private Sector Partnerships: Roy Eriksson, Global Gateway Ambassador from Finland, emphasised the importance of private sector involvement in funding and supporting women in tech.

8. Community-Driven Approaches: Betancourt advocated for bottom-up, community-driven approaches to technology adoption that centre women’s needs and incorporate feminist principles in tech development.

9. Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: Välba highlighted platforms like the D4D Hub that facilitate cooperation between different sectors to promote gender equality in digital development.

10. International Frameworks: Sibille discussed the role of initiatives like the EU Gender Action Plan in promoting gender equality in digital spaces.

The Global Digital Compact and Gender Equality

Radka Sibille highlighted the significance of the Global Digital Compact, currently being negotiated at the UN level, in addressing gender equality in tech. This compact aims to outline shared principles for an open, free, and secure digital future for all, with a strong emphasis on bridging the gender digital divide.

Importance of Women’s Empowerment in the Digital Economy

Speakers unanimously agreed on the critical importance of women’s digital inclusion:

1. Economic Benefits: Christophe Farnaud emphasised the potential economic gains from increased women’s participation in the digital economy.

2. Role Models: Roy Eriksson stressed the need for more women role models in tech to inspire the next generation.

3. Online Safety: Radka Sibille highlighted the importance of addressing online safety and human rights issues for women in digital spaces.

4. Improving Women’s Lives: Valeria Betancourt discussed the potential of digital technologies to enhance various aspects of women’s lives when developed with feminist principles in mind.

5. STEM Education: Minister Theofelus emphasised the importance of encouraging girls to pursue STEM education and careers at every opportunity.

Conclusions and Call to Action

The panel concluded with a strong consensus on the need for multifaceted, collaborative approaches to close the gender digital divide. Key takeaways included:

1. The necessity of multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, private sector, civil society, and communities.

2. The importance of community-driven, bottom-up approaches that put women at the centre of digital inclusion efforts.

3. The need to address deep-rooted cultural and societal barriers discouraging women from tech fields.

4. The critical role of targeted initiatives to support women’s digital skills development and entrepreneurship.

The discussion ended with calls to action from each panelist, urging all stakeholders to work together in implementing concrete measures to promote women’s inclusion in the digital economy. These ranged from providing targeted skills training and creating more inclusive regulatory frameworks to fostering women’s leadership in the tech sector and ensuring that digital technologies are developed with women’s needs and perspectives in mind.

Anda Bologa: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Good morning everyone once again. I’m Anda Bologa. I’m with the Center for European Policy Analysis, moderating this panel today. Thank you so much for joining. You made the right decision despite the fierce competition today. Our goal is to have a serious policy discussion on a very important topic, but at the same time kickstart this day with the right energy. Thank you so much for joining again. I will introduce now our distinguished panel and the keynote speaker. We have with us today Christoph Farnot, the EU ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He will set the stage for our conversation today and he has seen a lot in his long career as a diplomat and he knows very well that diplomacy, much like technology, is about bringing people together and this is what we’re trying to do today with this panel. Next we have Minister Emma Teofelis. She’s the Namibian minister for ICT and she is a bit of a rock star of this conference. With everyone that I spoke mentioned her. It’s extremely impressive. She’s one of the youngest ministers in the world and she also shows with her work that leadership is about determination and vision. Thank you so much for joining us today. Next we have Ambassador Roy Ericsson. He’s the Global Gateway ambassador from Finland and we talk a lot about building bridges at this conference and we use it as a metaphor, but Ambassador Ericsson is here to remind you that the Global Gateway Initiative is doing it quite literally and he will tell us more about it and tell how those projects are also open to everyone, including women. Thank you so much for joining us. Next we have Kedi Välba, Chair for Europe D4D Hub private sector advisory group and CEO of Actors. She comes from Estonia and as you probably all know in here, digitalization in Estonia is more than a buzzword. It’s a way of life and she She’s the one to tell us about how private sector and public sector come together and how ideas come into action. Thank you so much for joining us. Next, we have Radka Sibile. She’s the Digital Affairs Advisor at the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva. I think each and every one of you that interacted with the UN knows how overwhelming this interaction can be with such a massive organization. Luckily, we have Radka here and she can make complex things seem simple and clear. Thank you so much for joining us and tell us more about how the EU there tries to turn commitments into real-world change for women. Thank you so much. Next, we have Ravin Rizgar. She’s the Founder and Director of Suli Innovation House. She is not only talking about innovation, she’s building it. She’s extremely impressive and she will talk to us about the initiatives that bring technology to women in the MENA region. Next, we have Valeria Betancourt. She’s the Programs Manager, Association for Progressive Communication. She will tell us how the magic happens at the community-led initiatives and innovation. Very much looking forward to hear about that. Our session will deal with data, women and inclusivity. We hear a lot about the digital divide at this conference and at other conferences. It’s important to remember that it’s not just about who gets online, but also who gets seen and how gets opportunities. Because algorithms that are trained on biased data, for instance, are showing higher-paying jobs ads to men rather than to women. The facial recognition systems that are flawed disproportionately fail women of color. These are just a few examples, but I’m sure we will kick-start a very robust and interesting conversation today. Understand that these aren’t just glitches. They’re just symptoms of deeper inequalities. That being said, I’ll leave it to the panel. First and foremost, I welcome to the stage our keynote speaker, Ambassador, the floor is yours.

Christophe Farnaud: Thank you very much. Rockstar Minister, dear colleague Ambassador, excellencies in the room, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. It’s a real pleasure to open this session today with you. Gender equality, as you know, is a priority for the European Union. And as we all know, it is a multidimensional issue, from education to work, from health to decision-making, and of course, digitalization. And the thing is that the gender-digital divide remains a significant obstacle to achieving, including economic growth and equality. To launch the discussion, let me start with statistics. According to ITU, worldwide, in 2022, 69% of men were Internet users, compared with 63% of women. This means that globally, there are 244 million more men than women using the Internet. Moreover, recent statistics show that women comprise only about 25% of the tech workforce. This disparity is even bigger in leadership positions, where women hold only 11% of executive roles. In a nutshell, the digital gender gap, despite progress, persists, and closing it by investing in women is not only fair, it’s also the smart thing to do. Again, according to UN estimates, if women’s exclusion from the digital sphere was ended, some $1 trillion could be added to the GDP of low- and middle-income countries. However, women still face challenges to access the Internet, to develop digital skills, and therefore, use digital tools. This is also why gender equality is a core ambition for the European Union. Women are agents of development and change. First, the EU has adopted a gender action plan. now in its third edition, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. In particular, the plan states that 85% of all new actions in external relations of the EU will contribute to gender equality. As regards digitalization specifically, it promotes equal access and participation in shaping the digital landscape, from policy framework to infrastructure, from development of skills to financial access. Second, the EU Global Gateway Strategy, it aims to accelerate the twin green and digital transitions with partner countries. It promotes a human-centric and inclusive model of digitalization. Its ambitious targets can only be met by acting together in the Team Europe approach, with the Member States of the European Union and other stakeholders, in the spirit of this conference here at the IGF. Third, of course, gender is well mainstreamed in the EU Digital4Development Hub, a strategic multi-stakeholder platform that fosters digital cooperation between Team Europe again and its partners. Amongst others, the D4D Hub aims to ensure women and girls are a privileged target of our digital development cooperation. In the framework of this working group, we, together with Member States, focus our attention on the skills women need to take leadership positions in digital, and on fighting cyber violence, among other things. Today, we have put together an inspiring panel, representing all sectors, public, private, civil society, where men are a visible minority, obviously, good luck, coming from around the globe. They will share with us best practices, lessons learned and success stories. We definitely want to work together on recommendations to move forward. So without much further ado, I will give you back the floor, and wish you all success in your exchanges. Thank you very much.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much, Ambassador. Thank you to the fantastic panel and before we kickstart the conversation, thank you to the European Commission and the D4D hub and to all our partners that are in this room today and in the cyberspace for championing this cause and for making this discussion possible. I thought that in order to kickstart the conversation in a more energetic way, I will give you 30 seconds to each speaker for a first question and I want to hear from you one thing, your elevator pitch, to what’s the biggest barrier to closing the gender digital divide. But 30 seconds and then we will deep dive into a broader conversation. Minister, can we start with you? Thank you.

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus: Thank you very much and a very good morning to everybody. Very happy to be here. Well, it’s very difficult to condense it in 30 seconds but I’ll try. I think the biggest barrier to ensuring that we close the digital gender gap would be the opportunity for girls and women to actually learn the skills they need. There are so many impediments to them being able to access the material they need to ensure that they get online and basic skills to actually be familiar with the Internet and we experience this a lot in Namibia in the Ministry of ICT that there is a fear of the unknown. Somebody who is not exposed to a smartphone or online spaces, they immediately say, I have lived without it for so long, why do I need it now? But not understanding the opportunities that come with it I think is the biggest barrier because once they understand the opportunities, there becomes a demand. They want to know more, they want to learn more and they demand more from the state, from civil actors to actually make it possible that the right infrastructure is in place. That smartphones are cheaper, that data is cheaper and that they get to learn the right skills to be online actors. Thank you.

Roy Eriksson: Thank you so much, very comprehensive. Ambassador Ericsson? Well, I would like to echo what the Minister said and I think also one big stumbling block is the mental kind of thinking that the Internet and digitalization is concerning only men and we do not see what possibilities women have and that’s why I’m very grateful to be part of the Global Gateway and different projects where we take for granted that women are also included in the project. We listen to what their needs are and also try to promote that, yes, we’re building connectivity but it is not connectivity per se, it is so that you can use it. So you can, for example, start a micro company like we have in Africa, good examples of women when they have the possibility to connect with the world. So they have small companies making clothes or home cooking or something. So it’s empowering women if they just get over the first threshold and get online.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Can we hear from Kedi Välba?

Kedi Välba: Yes, thank you. I try not to repeat what the others have already mentioned, but as one of the things I see as a big barrier is the access to services. First of all, which we see is a problem in many countries and also that we don’t teach young kids or girls ICT skills. And this is what we are trying to solve in Estonia with different educational programs for girls to be included in ICT world, to teach them technological knowledge and so on, so that they would have more interest in the field in the future as well. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Can we hear from Ratka Sipile? 30 seconds.

Radka Sibille: Is it now on? Okay, thank you. Thank you so much. Good morning. I think one of the issues, I totally agree with all that has been said, and one of the issues that I would add is the lack of women at the decision-making and policy-making tables. I mean, here we have a fantastic panel, which is very pro-women, but this is still very much an exception and not a rule. And especially in the tech force, the situation looks a whole lot different when you talk about technologies. And so I think we need more women at the table when these decisions are made so that they already contain from the beginning the gender lens and the considerations of how they will impact women and all genders. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Can we hear from Ravin Rizgar? The floor is yours.

Ravin Rizgar: Good morning, everyone. Good to be here with you. So in terms of working closely with women, I would say it’s about trust, because tech force is quite dominated by men. And when it comes to women trying to find a place in the digital economy and trying to work and find employment opportunities, there’s no trust between the private sector or the companies in the capacity of women in that area. That’s why, despite taking, you know, upscaling in that sector, they would still have lower opportunity of finding employment opportunities. That’s why they think that, okay, why would I learn this if I’m not going to find a job with it, if I’m not going to make it to the market? So we need to try to push and build that trust among the private sector companies, that women can also be in positions where they can actually succeed in the digital economy.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. And to close this round of the first question, can we hear from Valeria Petancur, please?

Ravin Rizgar: Thank you very much. I hope you can hear me. Obviously, I agree with everything that has been said, but in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is still the most unequal region in the planet, I think the main barrier has to do with a real recognition that the gender-digital divide is just an expression of persistent structural oppression and exclusion and discrimination. And I think the fact that this is not taken into account in the development of digital policies… Thank you so much.

Anda Bologa: Thank you.

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus: Thank you so much. because, obviously, we need a growth, because I think the point I’m trying to make is, in the informal settlements, there are the margins of cities and towns, but not necessarily have access to the services of the new cities and towns. And so we need to advance the high-level skills, because we want to actually run a small business and business online. And we still need a piece of technology, just to be able to navigate the smartphone and email address, social media platform. Not only in the market, but also in business, in Facebook and Twitter. So we really try to see how good the business we can. So some people need to move from this stage to the next stage to see the results. And we do that in three ways. One, it starts off with the idea of bringing up the youth and young people, trying to give literacy training to young women in the country. We do it for six regions in the country. And now that, of course, T14Hub has gone out, we’ve now adopted the program internally in the country, and we have expanded it across the whole country. And in doing so, we have now created a literacy framework, a national literacy framework, to see what is going on in the country to help us in this organization to enhance the skills. And we go back to the original one thing, helping people with training. That’s what you need. And we try to give you, and we’re moving on. So we try to step it up. It’s practically impossible. And this is really going back to the basics. So in the short program, I think, just in the administration, you can see we’ve trained 100 girls, 100 women. Let’s just create one framework and then train where they are. We say, just the next. So if you know the basics, it’s the next person, and the next person teaches the next person. So that’s one way. The second way is we have coding camps because we’re trying to introduce coding as a subject in our schools. But as a ministry of ICT, we have now started coding camps for girls only. And we got the first one we did with the United Nations, the commission on Africa. It was such a huge success. We got to where we think that we’re only teaching coding to girls. It’s an intentional position and so we want to start with girls. We’ll probably expand in the future and we want to continue teaching girls coding. So let’s say you’re doing this one program and it addresses everybody. It’s multifaceted. You have to constantly change the program as you go to different areas. You change the program and when you go to a different area, you change the program again. to change the program again. And in fact, we will try to reduce the amount of time and the skills necessary for women and girls.

Anda Bologa: I would like to move to Ambassador Erikson. And if you can give us the elevator pitch of what is the Global Gateway and then address in a more complex manner, how does it build infrastructure that is gender inclusive? And maybe you can give us an example of a concrete project in that sense. Thank you.

Roy Eriksson: Thank you. First the pitch on Global Gateway, and then I will attempt to also talk about how we can close the gender divide for an inclusive economic growth. And from there, coming back to Global Gateway. Global Gateway is an initiative launched by the European Union and the Commission end of 2021. And the aim is to mobilize 300 billion euros for infrastructure projects in emerging markets. I have to underline it says mobilize 300 billion euros. It doesn’t mean that there is 300 billion somewhere in a magical purse, but we are trying to mobilize the private sector with the help of public money to take down the risks of projects so that we have projects that would not be materialized without this initial small help. And Global Gateway is considering investments in five different sectors, digital being one of them. them, then education, health, climate, and renewable energy, and logistics. And for Finland, we have chosen to participate in projects mainly in digitalization, but also education and in lesser mode also on climate and renewable energy. But coming back to the topic, first, of course, I’d like to thank the organizers for giving me the opportunity to take the floor, because this is an important forum that tackles very pertinent issues. Technology has emerged as a key question for global development, including inclusive economic growth. The issue of digital divide is very important, as 2.6 billion people globally still have no access to the Internet. But why is this an issue? It’s because digital data flows in cyberspace, and data is the new oil of the future. If you allow this kind of comparison, yeah, our modern societies, especially urban ones, are more and more relying on the use of digital information, and with access to data, people can improve their lives. The digital transformation presents us with a wealth of opportunities that we need to grasp. At the same time, it presents us challenges that we need to act on, such as gender divide. As we move towards a more connected future, closing this gender gap is crucial for ensuring inclusive growth, and empowering women and girls to unlock their full potential. With growing threats to peace and security, we need to make sure technology is a force for good, and not used as a weapon. to amplify conflicts and create further instability and division globally. The UN and its stakeholders will have a key role in making sure we have the tools to manage this process in the years ahead. The Global Digital Compact provides an important framework for enhancing multilateral and multi-stakeholder cooperation for bridging the gender digital divide and enhancing the rights of all women and girls in the digital world. Finland took part actively in the Global Digital Compact negotiations, stressing priorities such as human rights, improving digital connectivity, governing emerging technology, and addressing the gender digital divide, and investing in education and digital skills. Finland underlines a multi-stakeholder approach in the implementation of the compact. My government sees technology as a key issue for our foreign and security policy. We have a strong focus on digital development in our foreign policy, including increased attention, private sector solutions, and investments. We are committed to work internationally for digital development that is fair, inclusive, and sustainable with respects for human rights and gender equality. We are pleased that our priorities, including addressing the gender digital divide, are being extensively covered within the ongoing IGF. Globally, we are far from reaching the target of universal connectivity as set out by the Agenda 2030. Despite good initiatives and concrete actions, a lot remains to be done in order to tackle this challenge. The Global Digital Compact calls for more cooperation to close the persistent digital especially in remote and underserved areas. In this regard, I want to highlight the need to mobilize more private investments and capital to meet these needs. Without adequate infrastructure in place, the potential of digitalization remains locked in. And we, in Finland, stand ready to contribute to this process. If the time allows, I would like to share with you some concrete examples of our work towards closing the gender divide. As a co-leader of the UN’s Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality, we emphasize the pivotal role of digital technologies. For the opportunities of technology to be delivered, women and girls must have equal and safe and quality access to digital technologies, as well as the necessary digital skills. Only by having the whole nation, that is women and girls, along men, on board digitally, can the digital economy reach its full potential. Finland has a decades-long tradition in promoting the rights of women and girls in its foreign and development policy. We believe that the multi-stakeholder cooperation is key to achieve this, including engaging the private sector. For instance, through FinFund, Finland’s development financer and impact investor, we invest in technology companies that are committed to advancing gender equality in Africa. Finland funds also various civil society organizations globally. With Finland’s support, civil societies, for example, enhance digital safety of women, human rights defenders, and digital literacy of women and girls. Through the cooperation with UN organizations, Finland supports, for example, the creation of technology harnessing decent work opportunities for women in Tunisia and Morocco. We are also partnering with UNICEF. to develop virtual safe spaces for women and girls at risk. And then coming to the EU’s Digital for Development Hub, or D4D Hub, Finland, alongside other European Union member states and the European Commission, is enhancing digital partnerships globally. This includes boosting joint investments between the EU and partner countries. The D4D Hub’s ambition to contribute to reducing digital divides includes also gender digital divides. Finland takes, for example, part in the Team Europe initiative in Africa, including the Regional Data Governance in Africa initiative. We do not only build physical connectivity, and especially underlining the importance to take connectivity to rural and underserved regions. But on top of that, soft infrastructure is as important. That means that we provide our partners with skills so that they can utilize the new technologies. And in this, especially, a greater importance is given to take women and girls into the picture as well. In development aid, human rights and gender equality are cross-cutting and important themes, and all our projects should have some element of these issues. Lastly, I would like to underline our long-standing support to the IGF, as we are here, but it is also doing a lot of work to promote the access of women and girls to the Internet. And in that way, promoting our common objectives. In this context, I would like to encourage also other partners to step up their support to the IGF and the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance, which in essence contributes to closing the gender divide. I look forward to the discussion and I’m happy to answer any questions you have, especially regarding Global Gateway. Thank you so much.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much and thank you for inviting questions on the Global Gateway. I’ll happily intervene in the next round and then open it to the public. What we heard from you is the need for the private sector to step in. I heard this in different forums, but often the private sector is sometimes seen as a stereotypical source of funding. I would like to understand better how else it can step in. I’m sure that KD Valva is best positioned to tell us besides what is expected in many projects, the funding aspect, how else can the private sector contribute to closing the gender digital divide. Maybe you can tell us more concrete examples from Estonia and other examples in terms of leadership of women in board panels and so on. The floor is yours. Thank you.

Kedi Välba: Yes. Estonia’s history is interesting in that sense that we regained our independence in 1991 and this is when Estonia had to kind of invent what we’re going to be or how we’re going to develop. We had very strong leadership and our prime minister and president both were for the way of digitalization. Our journey began about 30 years ago already and this was all collaboration between the private sector, public sector and also including the academia. My company is one of the two companies behind the creation of the Estonia. Union National Data Exchange Platform, X-Road, that is also implemented in several other countries across the world, including Finland. And this is, for example, one very good example of this pure private-public partnership, and also something that is making sure the society is inclusive to all genders and also people with disabilities and so on, because in Estonia currently we like to say that we have 99% of services available online. Actually, it’s very close to 100 now, because the last two services were getting married and getting divorced, that weren’t accessible online yet, but now these services have been digitalized as well. You just need to show up for the final signature to actually make sure you will meet the person before getting married. And this is the interoperability platform in that sense, is something that is a very valuable asset in accessing the digital services, having inclusivity for also women and people in rural areas, because you can have access to healthcare, the financial inclusion, you can start the business from the convenience of your home within like a couple of minutes. It takes a bit more time to open a bank account, but still you’re not dependent in going to some physical office or traveling long distances and also in the very beginning of our developments in Estonia, for example, the implementation of ID card is a very good example, which was also done in collaboration between the private and public sector and the banks and telcos were actually the first private sector institutions to support the government in implementing these solutions and also the banks and telcos were the first ones to take these services into use. For example in Estonia the banks were authorized to issue ID cards also because you don’t have government offices in all of the rural areas but we used to have banks now we don’t have bank offices anymore as well as bank offices are closing down because everything is moving into the digital world so you have offices only in the bigger hubs and if you want to have for example consultation or receiving the loan you can do it all digitally. Another example is for example the certification authority that was providing certifications for digital signature in Estonia the digital signing that you could do at first with the ID card now we also have the mobile application solution the smart ID or also mobile ID and all of those certifications was the examples that we have and that has provided a very good access to services and also we have made ID card mandatory since the age of 16 so all of the citizens or like adult citizens in Estonia have it and this is also a tool which enables you to have access to digital services in the country.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much we heard so much about access and skills, which brings us to the first part of the panel, where we discussed about the biggest barriers to closing the gender digital divide. And thank you so much for sharing the leadership of Estonia. It’s very inspiring. I experienced it myself. I was in a study visit in there and indeed I could see how digitized is the medical sector and how much access that provides to so many categories of people. We talked about bottom-up initiatives. We talked about very practical private sector, public sector initiatives. And now it’s time to go back to a very high level. I’m afraid. Radka, I’m looking at you. The EU Gender Action Plan was mentioned at the beginning of this conversation. I think it’s important to also understand what are the higher and broader frameworks. So if you can give us the pitch for the EU Gender Action Plan in an understandable way, easy to grasp and at the same time how it interacts with the work of the UN and how is EU at the UN working on gender. Thank you.

Radka Sibille: Thank you so much. Yes, indeed. So the EU Gender Action Plan is already in its third edition. It was launched in November 2020 and it’s basically a very ambitious framework that binds the EU to mainstream gender and to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in all our actions, including externally in our cooperation with third countries towards the UN, etc. So when it comes to digitalization sector, for instance, we use the Gender Action Plan of the EU to focus on digital skills of women and girls, also in partnership with third countries, as was mentioned, that this was important to promote access to, for instance, financial services, because when you want to launch… a startup or any kind of digital platform, you would need some kind of capital at the beginning. And I was just, you know, in that sense, looking at some statistics and, for instance, the women tech statistics are saying that, unfortunately, only 2.3 percent of women-led startups get venture capital funding. And I think that’s also related to the trust issues that were raised here before. Basically, the prejudice is that women cannot make it in the tech. So we’re trying to address that also through our projects. And last but not least, we are also trying to promote the women entrepreneurship and the women digital literacy skills. One of the projects, for instance, that we have launched successfully is called Vamos Digital in Mozambique, which tries to promote digital skills and coding skills in high schools and with a particular focus on women and girls. So again, this is the gender lens that we try to use in all our projects. So we do have projects, but we always try to look at how women and girls can participate in their projects and try to bring them to the table. When it comes to the UN, it’s really, I’m grateful that you mentioned it, because the UN just agreed, by consensus at international level, the Global Digital Compact, which was adopted by the General Assembly in September. And it has a very strong human rights-based approach to technology in general, basically saying that all our work on digital cooperation needs to be embedded in international human rights law. And in particular, it also mentions the gender equality and empowerment of women as one of the principles. And the European Union, when negotiating the Global Digital Compact, was one of the staunchest supporters of that principle, of the human rights-based approach in general, but also with the focus on women and girls, because we really believe it’s important to have everybody at the table. And now, as we enter collectively in the implementation phase, of the Global Digital Compact. We will have to see how we can work all together, so the EU is trying to do it as Team Europe, but we will need other partners as well to try to implement that and close the gender digital divide before the 2030 SDG summit that is already fast approaching. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: This is an incredibly ambitious target to make it by 2030, but like with many other extreme challenges that we’re facing, it’s important to put our outmost ambition into those goals. And maybe now we heard about innovation and we heard about startups and so much about coding and encouraging women to get into tech, not only coding. So maybe we can hear from Ravin Rizgar and about your work on Soli Innovation House, which is extremely impressive, and maybe you can share with us how did you come up with the idea and what challenges did you encounter and what’s the success story of the Innovation House at this stage. Thank you.

Ravin Rizgar: Thank you for asking this question, because this is actually starting all from my own story, and I do really believe on the point when there is a challenge, when there’s a need, that’s where innovation comes in. You know, I myself, once I graduated, like let’s say as a top student on my class, studying manufacturing engineering and in the tech sector, I tried to find a job in my field, realizing that all the other male classmates found job in different factories, including international ones. And for me, it was just lots of rejection from lots of companies, including the one that they say that they are gender inclusive, saying that, you know, the factory is all men, you cannot make it. we’re afraid, you know, you have the skill, but we are afraid that it would be difficult for you to work within an area that you cannot find other females. It was very disappointing because I believed my skills and I was like, very ambitious wanting to find job. And now that’s all where the idea started looking at all the other female friends and all the other females in the community that they’re all going through the same challenge. So I actually wanted to build a home where we can share our stories, where we can talk about the challenge that we’re facing. Even the ones that they had job, they’re on daily basis being discriminated or they’re being, yeah, somehow, yeah, not compared to the guys where they’re working in the private sector and facing many different problems or they’re being given jobs where it’s not matching their qualification just because of being a female and they want to get some income, they’re forced to do that job. So that’s where the idea started. And I am really thankful to all the companies that they reject me because they are the reason where I am now, you know, founding Sully Innovation House and running it for around three years now, and trying to do capacity building with another 600 women, which I see like right now, more than 300 of them, they found job and they are some of them that they have their own startup. So I’m very thankful to them. And at the same time, right now, they’re sponsoring the programs that we are running, which is very impressive, like making them to come and support programs that is supporting other women. So that’s the story. And in terms of numbers, as Sully Innovation House, as I mentioned, only females through our one of our program, which is targeting women only called leading women, we have upscaled, like skills of women in digital skills, tech skills and also including soft skill for 600 women in which 53% of them they found job. And we’re very happy with the result and we’re planning more to come for 2025. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. I think the numbers speak for themselves. And thank you so much for sharing your story that I think is extremely inspiring for other people that hear it. And I encourage you to reach out and seek partnerships in this sense. And speaking about community driven approaches, I’m moving now to Valeria Betancourt. And I would like to hear more about her work and how you shape inclusive policies in the Latin American region. And what’s the role of communities and how do you form a community in this space in the first place? Thank you.

Valeria Betancourt: Okay, thank you very much. First, I will be obviously expressing the work that my colleagues and our network does. I think, first of all, it is very important to situate the conversation about inclusion and overcoming the gender digital gap in the moment that we are in. The Global Digital Compact has been mentioned. Obviously, it is going to be, and it provides a very important updated framework of the challenges that we face. But I would also like to bring the attention to another process that in our view represents also the view, the perspective and the challenges of the global south and countries in the region, which is the plus 20 review of the World Summit on the Information Society. And why I mentioned this, because the emphasis is on people. The vision of the WSIS was precisely on people rather than on the digital. And I think it’s time to look again at that vision and to put people and the planet in the center. That vision will have the opportunity also. so to build on community-based approaches, community-driven approaches that in tandem with the gender justice lens, we open much more possibilities for digital policies to recognize, as I was saying, that the problem is a structural battle. So the fact that technologies are enablers of rights, of development, of inclusion, but are also the tools and the spaces that we reach back. And that economic growth equates or equals development and inclusion, but also help us to overcome this assumption that the solutions should come from a single stakeholder. While what we have seen in the practice is that only through meaningful, effective collaboration and alliances and partnerships between the public sector, the private sector, the academia, the civil society organizations, and the communities as central actors, we can actually respond to the particular way in which communities, in which women and girls and non-conforming people experience technology. So I really want to highlight the fact that these bottom-up approaches with the communities at the center are also the way in which these alliances can really respond to meet particular challenges. So there are several examples on how we can place this gender justice and community-driven approach in the core of the interventions oriented to bridge the digital gap. For instance, there are several experiences about women’s circles that are part of decision making bodies, but also decision in relation to how the technology is designed. Not only the governance of the technologies, but also how the technologies are developed and designed in the first place. So sound and solid methodologies to really incorporate those approaches since the beginning, because that’s the only way in which these bottom-up approaches can respond to specific realities and needs if we want to narrow the digital divide. Those will also help to counteract the pin washing that has happened through several interventions that even though they have good intentions are not able because of this distance that they have with the real needs and the particularities of the barriers that women face in order to be able to really overcome those. So I think that’s a good way to do it, and the different stakeholders working together can put the communities in the center and be able to design solutions that could meet the particular needs and contexts.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much for sharing that, and this panel in itself is an illustration that multi-stakeholder is not just a buzzword. We hear from governments and the actions they take, and we hear how this resonates with the private sector that is equally as keen to invest, for instance, if we take the coding camps. The government is interested. in that. The private sector is interested because inevitably it’s going to have a great workforce. We have innovation houses that just help and empower women and give them the space and the trust to take part in those activities. We have the international institutions that come with broader frameworks. We have the communities that are there. So that’s a very beautiful illustration of how this multi-stakeholderism works in practice and is more tangible than often the words in high-level documents make it seem. So that being said, thank you so much to our public. You’ve been very patient and very interested and now maybe I’ll give the floor to Ambassador Ericsson for a moment and then I’ll open it to the audience in the room and online. Thank you.

Roy Eriksson: Thank you. Just a quick comment listening to this very thin panel. One thing that I think is important is for women to have role models because I know a person, a woman in Finland with a similar background than what you mentioned. She couldn’t get a job in tech sectors and she was frustrated about it and she started a movement called Chicks Can Code and she has organized these workshops and not knowing is there any demand for that, if there would be anybody who would be interested. So she started small and the house was full and then okay well let’s have another one and again the house was full and again and again. So she actually started then her own business and has workshops throughout Finland on how women can also get involved in coding. That it’s not something that you have to have. a Y-gene to do, women can do it as well, and she has been a great successful. So what the bringing in the closing the gender gap, we need good role models. So now girls have seen that she’s been a success, so coding is no longer something is just for boys, girls are interested in that as well. And it has had for the whole of the Finnish economy, a good beneficial outcome, because our gaming sector is now really booming and being successful, but it couldn’t be successful without the women. So that’s just what I wanted to say. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. And if you allow me to add one more thing, you mentioned role models. And at the same time, we need allies. Often the gender policies are left to the women, and it’s often that they feel the pressure and the responsibility to fight for it. And it’s extremely important to have allies and have everyone get involved in this because the economic benefits and just the benefits of this concern everyone. And thank you for being an ally with us today on the panel. And thank you to everyone in the public that is here. That being said, I’m going to open it to everyone I know we have, including people in the IT industry, especially in the video games. So opening it to the public in the room and online, perhaps we can start with the room. Do we have microphones? Thank you.

Audience: Thank you, Excellency. I feel called up to say a few words because actually, we would also want to continue on this amazing discussion. And I have more even inspiration for upcoming meeting because today at 1545, as the World Intellectual Property Organization, where the UN agency helping the innovators and creators, we will continue on with women in games and apps, innovation, creativity, intellectual property, where we will also have host role models from the industry, industry leaders, but as well as try to highlight one of the important skills that is important in entrepreneurship and games and apps is also the understanding. and how to manage your creativity and innovation and that is done through the intellectual property system and the inter IP tools that we are also trying to highlight and raise awareness and educate about. So of course congratulations just about this event and I feel further inspired by all the words mentioned here today.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. We see synergies not only in between the speakers of the panel but also the events today so that’s amazing.

Peter Zanga Jackson Jr.: Thank you so much sir the floor is yours. Good morning everybody my name is Peter Zanga Jackson Jr. I’m from Liberia and I firstly want to thank our panelists for all what they have said but in our intro during the intro one of them said that the tech force is dominated by men. The question is why the tech force is dominated by men? Are men stopping women from getting involved? Is it a behavior of women to not get involved? And so what can we do to get women involved into tech? Because once you use the word tech they say oh it’s for men. Anytime and even in schools when you talk about the sciences, the physics, the physics, the mathematics they say oh it’s for men and so you have limited women participation into technology. Now the challenge is back to them and they need to work on that niche behavior of not getting involved. I believe the more women are involved into technology the tech they will be heard. Okay they will not be marginalized. Things will go the way we all expect it to go. And so I put it to them, what can they do to work on the minds of our girls to get involved? What can they do? This is my question.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Perhaps taking another intervention, and then I’ll bring the question back to the panel.

Damilare Oydele: Thank you so much. I have a question and a comment together. My name is Damilare Oyedile. I work with Library Aid Africa. My comment and question is about empowering women and young girls with digital skills and literacy skills to explore the economic benefits of digital economy, right? And there’s a huge potential here to leverage libraries, to leverage libraries as key partners and access points for digital literacy skills and empowerment, because libraries have already existing libraries to have infrastructure and space to deliver these trainings. And this is something we have done before. In particular, we did this also in Namibia through one of our projects where one of our fellows trained young women in our community on digital literacy skills. Okay, not just that, also empowering librarians and libraries with the skills and infrastructure to deliver this training. Now that we’re trying to scale up this intervention and engagement to build more collaborative libraries, I’m curious to know from the panelists here in the context of what are the pathways here to engage libraries in your plans and collaborative engagement to scale digital skills development and empowerment for women and young girls? Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. An excellent question. Another intervention, please. And then we move to the panel.

Catherine Mumma: Thank you. My name is Catherine Muma. I’m a senator from Kenya. I just want to commend the panel. I think I enjoyed every presentation, acknowledging that world over we are more as women, but we are not as present as we ought to be. And the tech world has run way ahead and left women behind. That is something we need to acknowledge that it has helped to visualize the actual patriarchal concerns that are in societies across the world. I found the solutions you’re giving very, very practical. I think I’ll speak to you, Honorable Minister, from Namibia, what you’re doing can happen in Kenya, can happen in Uganda. The many proposals you’re suggesting, by the way, my daughter is an engineer and she’s just frustrated in some company going through exactly what you’re saying. She’s there, she has capability, but the men won’t trust her to do this. I’ll be happy to just engage with you and back to Kenya. I will take it back to the Kenyan women’s movement to see how we can engage further and help get more women on board. Thank you very much.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much for this round. We’ll bring it back to the panel and then we’ll open it again to the floor. On top of everything that was said, I also encourage you to approach Ambassador Erickson and talk about Global Gateway and the type of projects that can be financed and the type of projects that can be created under the Global Gateway umbrella. But bringing us back to the first question about how women can get involved and what women must do, perhaps I’ll give the floor to Valeria Betancourt to give us maybe since you have the vision at the community level, you can give us a few clear examples on how to approach and perhaps frame this question. Thank you.

Valeria Betancourt: Absolutely. Thank you very much. First, I think we have to understand what my colleagues of the panel have been saying. The intervention have to be multidimensional and multifaceted. I think first, it is very important to enable regulatory frameworks that allow for the coexistence of different models and different ways to provide connectivity, for instance, because that will also create the conditions through the regulatory and legal frameworks be able to precisely, for instance, deploy community networks and infrastructure that is owned by the community in a way that will have and ensure the financial sustainability, for instance, so the regulatory framework is one level and the possibility, as I am saying, of allowing for the existence of complementary models for bridging the digital gap. Second, I think financial mechanisms, as part of the implementation of the Global Digital Compact, but also the review of the last 20 years of the World Summit of the Information Society, we are kind of witnessing a revamping of the multilateral agenda, including the restructuring of the financial global architecture that has to also kind of mirror what is happening with the financial mechanisms at national level. So, for instance, for the Global South and I guess in many other regions as well, but in Latin America in particular, the role that the universal service funds can play in ensuring the financial sustainability of women-led initiatives, of women-led enterprises based on digital technologies, I think that’s very important. So, ensuring this kind of deep investment, focused investment for ensuring the financial sustainability of community-driven initiatives is very important. Also, there are very important communities that have a very strong feminist imprint in Latin America, that’s the case of community networks in Brazil, in Argentina, in Colombia, in Mexico, that have been able, working together, the community, but also in partnerships, as I was saying, to be able to… put in practice the feminist principles of the internet, for instance, and also some other guidelines that different groups have developed in order to make sure that the digital policies are truly inclusive and gender sensitive. I would like to mention in particular two initiatives that are happening in Latin America. First is a mapping, a kind of mapping of best practices that the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission has started in order to precisely shed some light in terms of what are the best practices to ensure that digital policies are gender inclusive and gender sensitive, so member states have been invited to provide information and with that information to be able to understand what is happening at the level of the community networks and systematize that knowledge and experience. And second there is a very concrete example, a very recent one in Colombia, that there is a partnership between the European Union and Colnodo around a project that is oriented precisely to connect the unconnected in rural areas in the country and it’s interesting to see how that partnership is allowing the intervention in the different levels that I have mentioned, so to be able to encourage and promote a policy dialogue in the country that will help to precisely work at the regulatory framework but also the digital policies that are sustainable in time and that work closely with the communities but also at the community level to be able to deploy not only the infrastructure but also the capacity building programs for women and girls and non-conforming people in order to be able to make most of the use of technologies. So those are the examples that are there, they are very well documented and I think we can build and learn a lot from those experiences in different countries and also regulatory developments in Mexico for instance allowing the existence and the deployment of indigenous community networks, where women have a very central role in the governance of those communities, not only the technical running of the community network, but also the governance of those initiatives.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. And before opening it to the panel, maybe I can add something on women getting involved and the regulations. And it sounds very abstract, but in reality, the buzzword of this conference is artificial intelligence. And one way in which artificial intelligence is being used, if there is no regulatory framework to prohibit it, is for employment. But the way artificial intelligence works is an algorithm trained on data. And if historically, this type of jobs, particularly jobs in tech, higher paid, were given just to men, then the algorithm, when it will look through the CVs, it will just take out the best CVs of men. And those women will not receive an invitation to the interview. So this is a very practical way in which having a regulatory intervention in which companies will not be allowed to do that without human oversight, is clearly opening a path for women to be invited to the interview. And then it’s up to them, of course, to be as competitive as males in those positions. But in a very pragmatic way, that’s how through regulatory frameworks, you can control the use of these technologies. And that’s a practical example from the regulatory framework of the EU. But going back to the panel, we heard two questions. If anyone would like to address the first one and speak about libraries, please.

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus: Thank you. I also wanted to add something to the first question. And I know it will prolong it because she has really adequately handled it. But I think the reality of the fact is there are religious, cultural barriers to girls even thinking of going into a technical field, even just the discussion in the house. You almost become an anomaly if you want to go outside of the traditional types of employment that you want to have. When I was in high school, between the last two grades, grade 11 and 12, you’re allowed to choose subjects that you want to do, at least three that you want to do. I didn’t want to do home economics, and home economics was you learn how to knit, you learn how to keep a home. I didn’t want to learn that in school, I learned that at home already with my parents and my guardians. I wanted to do computer studies, and in that class of 35 students, we were only two females. Nobody stopped them to choosing computer studies, but already there’s a lot of social engineering from a girl child. Just even the conversations of what is possible, what is not possible, and you might not think it’s, you know, nobody said, no, no, don’t go do that. But it becomes subconscious without you as the person not knowing, and even the people around you not knowing that they’re socially engineering you not to take some of these career paths that are not primarily geared towards girls. So I think it’s a serious conversation we need to have, because before a child decides that at university, I’m going to choose this particular career, somebody should have been in their ear for years and years on the end, telling them what is possible for them and what is not possible for them. So it’s silent. It’s not out there, but it’s what is impacting the performance of girls to get into science and tech, and even in the workplace. There’s social engineering, a lot of intimidation, you know, being a young junior officer and wanting to be an executive, and already the environment is telling you that you might not succeed, even make it to the interview. And I think in this to women in politics, women in business, it’s the same thing just in different sectors, it’s the same thing happening all across patriarchy showing up in various ways so I just wanted to add. onto that response of the question. On the library’s question, I think in our model in Namibia, we’ve realized that every standing asset is an opportunity for us to do the training. We use libraries as a place where we can give computer literacy training. The basics, how to switch on a computer, how to type a CV, how to print. For all of us who might have advanced skills, it might seem like, I mean, how can somebody not know that? But there are a lot of people who do not know that, and that’s why we use the libraries. Secondly, we use what we call ICT centers that we share between the Ministry of ICT and the Ministry of Youth. This is targeted to young people, both male and female, around training. It’s already a standing infrastructure. The government has invested into that infrastructure 15, 20 years ago. We just help refurbish it by putting 1, 2, 3, sometimes even 5 laptops make such a big difference in ensuring that that space becomes as an ICT hub for somebody who wants to learn computer and digital literacy. Then the third place we are now exploring using is post offices. We have post offices almost everywhere in the country, even in the most rural parts of the country. People get mail because that’s the infrastructure that was invested in a few years back. We’re now trying to see how can we ensure at least every post office has a computer or laptop for the community to learn how to use online spaces and impart digital literacy skills. We almost anticipate that we’ll have an even bigger impact to train more women and girls in using computers and using smartphones as a way to ensure that they get the literacy skills. Every standing infrastructure is an opportunity to train. to impart skills. It’s just how policymakers, community actors, private sector come together to use that space to impart those necessary skills. And I’ve challenged our private sector to say, by the year 2030, no person, young and old, should not have basic digital literacy skills in the Namibian nation. We’re only 3 million people. So I can almost believe that by 2030, every citizen must at least know how to use a laptop, must at least know how to use a smartphone to run something, to have an email, to be able to put their business online, how to navigate websites, how to apply for a job online. The basic skills to get somebody from level zero to level one or two or three. And we don’t want to take that for granted. We don’t want that divide to grow bigger. We want to close the gap around digital literacy skills, whether from a gender lens or any other lens possible in the country. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much for your answer. Please.

Kedi Välba: Thank you. When I was going to university, my first degree was business administration and languages. And my uncle told me when he heard that I’m going to attend the university, he said, nonsense, women and business. That’s nonsense. You should find a rich husband, stay at home, have children and not go to the university. So this is what we’re talking about. It’s happening everywhere all over the world. And this is the environment we come from. But I wanted to make an example, also talk about the libraries from Estonia, this is how we actually also started our digitalisation journey, that we created internet access points. We did also use the libraries and we also created computer classes, one computer class to each school all over Estonia and provided computer lessons, not only to the general public, but but also when we’re talking about gender equality, we also need to talk about the elderly and the inclusivity of the elderly, because they also need to access the services. So this is what helped us a lot. And this was also something that was done in collaboration with private and public sectors, largely funded by the private sector, because computers to the schools were coming from the private sector. And this is where I’m also happy to represent the Digital for Development Hub here, which is an initiative or a strategic platform created by the European Union and member states to actually boost the digital transformation and investments around it. And the focus is very human-centric. Also, the gender topic is a cross-cutting topic in all of the initiatives. And I’m very happy to see that. Well, I’m here because I’m representing the private sector advisory group. We also have the civil society advisory group. And I think this is a good example of a platform for collaboration. And we need more of these neutral platforms where we can talk together, the private sector and the public sector, because innovation usually happens in the private sector. But somehow we are afraid of the private sector. We don’t trust the public sector. But we need those collaboration platforms where we can actually discuss with each other. And then we will have better ideas and inclusivity. And also one of my thoughts that I wanted to add here is that we have heard the topic of women having difficulties in entering the job market and tech field and so on. So what we need to do is to boost or encourage the women entrepreneurship, to have more women founders. women founders, women CEOs, and this innovation hub that we have, because women are more eager to take women on board. And this is also what I have seen and mentored young girls a lot, that when they’re ending up in a very men-focused company, then they struggle a lot and they have a lot of issues. Quite a lot they’re seen as an assistant, just bringing coffee. So we need to boost women entrepreneurship, and that will also be something that will make a change. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Thank you again for all your interventions. Thank you for your patience and being here. We’re running out of time, so unfortunately we have one last intervention from each panelist. I’ll start with the other worder from which I started, and I will ask you to think of one key insight that you got from this panel and try to perhaps frame it as a call to action. I will start with Valeria Betancourt, please.

Valeria Betancourt: A call to action. Sorry, can you hear me? Yes, a call to action.

Anda Bologa: 30 seconds, please.

Valeria Betancourt: Yes, my call to action could be to precisely take the responsibility that every stakeholder has for ensuring that we can bridge the digital gap. As I was saying, it is not a matter that just one single actor can provide the responses, and I think bottom-up approaches have, I think in history, shown that might be the best possible way, putting people and communities in the center to be able to provide solutions that are meaningful to people, so digital technologies can help improve the lives and open opportunities, not only to enter and to access to economic justice, but also social justice and environmental justice, that for communities is essential in order to also ensure the integrity, safety, and well-being. the well-being of themselves and the planet.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Maybe we can move to Katie-Valbaa in the interest of passing the microphone around. Thank you.

Kedi Välba: Yes, thank you. We have heard a lot of good thoughts here today. And I would just like the conversation to continue in that sense, that it would not only remain a conversation, but we have also very concrete actions following. And under the D4AD Hub initiative, this is something where we’re looking into very seriously, as gender equality is one of the aspects that’s included in every project.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Ambassador Ericsson, 30 seconds.

Roy Eriksson: 30 seconds. Yes, take action. Not just talking about bridging the digital divide and empowering women. When we are doing a project, we really need to look into that, that it is also benefiting women, that everybody is on board.

Anda Bologa: Thank you. Minister?

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus: If all of us at the IGF, it means that we have a role to play in our communities. We are respectable people. There are people who value us. So everywhere you go, let it be a church in your community, at a family gathering, at a wedding. Encourage the young girls to take up STEM fields, encourage them to go above and beyond the normal norm, encourage them to explore job careers, study careers in the tech field, because your word could actually be an encouragement for that young girl or that young woman to actually want to consider something like that. So let’s not take words for granted. They go a long way in encouraging people to take up careers that otherwise are against the normal norms. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Radka Cibile, 30 seconds.

Radka Sibille: Thank you so much. My call for action would be to make the online space safe and respectful of human rights, just like they should be respected offline. Because if it’s not safe, even if you then bring and connect all those that are un-safe, it’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. It’s not safe. connected today, including women, they will be dissuaded in using the online space is if it’s full of harassment, hate speech, misogyny. So human rights online should be protected as they are offline. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Robin Ryskardt.

Ravin Rizgar: Is seen like other stories like mine happening in Finland and other areas of the world is like quite making us all to work on empower. So we have to empower women and continue this in every part of the world. And please, if you have a friend, a family member, that’s female and trying to start something, either they’re either a startup or a community initiative, just show support. Even if it’s just a few words of encouragement, that would be really appreciated. So just keep supporting. Thank you.

Anda Bologa: Thank you so much. Thank you to the wonderful public today and the panelists. And I encourage you to go to them, speak up and look for partnerships and multi stakeholder perspectives. Thank you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Agreement Points

Lack of access to digital skills training for women and girls

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

Ravin Rizgar

Kedi Välba

Limited access to digital skills training for women and girls

Creating women-focused innovation hubs and support networks

Providing coding camps and digital literacy programs for girls

Multiple speakers emphasized the importance of providing targeted digital skills training and support networks for women and girls to bridge the gender digital divide.

Societal and cultural barriers hindering women’s participation in tech

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

Ravin Rizgar

Kedi Välba

Societal and cultural barriers discouraging girls from tech fields

Lack of trust in women’s capabilities in tech sectors

Promoting women’s entrepreneurship in tech

Speakers agreed that societal and cultural barriers, including lack of trust in women’s capabilities, discourage women from entering and succeeding in tech fields.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the systemic nature of gender discrimination in the tech sector, emphasizing the need for structural changes and increased representation of women in leadership roles.

Valeria Betancourt

Radka Sibille

Persistent structural discrimination and exclusion

Lack of women in tech leadership and decision-making roles

Both speakers emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, particularly involving the private sector, in addressing the gender digital divide.

Roy Eriksson

Kedi Välba

Private sector partnerships to fund and support women in tech

Multi-stakeholder collaboration platforms like D4D Hub

Unexpected Consensus

Importance of community-driven approaches

Valeria Betancourt

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

Community-driven approaches to technology adoption

Leveraging existing infrastructure like libraries for digital skills training

Despite coming from different backgrounds (civil society and government), both speakers emphasized the importance of leveraging community resources and bottom-up approaches in bridging the digital divide.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The speakers generally agreed on the need for targeted interventions to support women in tech, the importance of addressing societal and cultural barriers, and the value of multi-stakeholder collaboration. There was also consensus on the economic benefits of closing the gender digital divide.

Consensus level

High level of consensus among speakers, with complementary perspectives from different sectors (government, civil society, private sector) reinforcing the urgency and multifaceted nature of addressing the gender digital divide. This consensus suggests a strong foundation for collaborative efforts to promote women’s inclusion in the digital economy.

Different Viewpoints

Primary barrier to closing the gender digital divide

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

Ravin Rizgar

Radka Sibille

Valeria Betancourt

Limited access to digital skills training for women and girls

Lack of trust in women’s capabilities in tech sectors

Lack of women in tech leadership and decision-making roles

Persistent structural discrimination and exclusion

While all speakers agreed that barriers exist, they emphasized different primary factors contributing to the gender digital divide.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement centered around identifying the primary barriers to closing the gender digital divide and the most effective strategies to address these barriers.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers was relatively low. Most speakers presented complementary rather than conflicting viewpoints, focusing on different aspects of the same overarching issue. This suggests a multifaceted approach may be necessary to address the gender digital divide effectively.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agreed on the need for targeted initiatives to support women in tech, but proposed different approaches ranging from education programs to entrepreneurship support.

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

Ravin Rizgar

Kedi Välba

Providing coding camps and digital literacy programs for girls

Creating women-focused innovation hubs and support networks

Promoting women’s entrepreneurship in tech

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the systemic nature of gender discrimination in the tech sector, emphasizing the need for structural changes and increased representation of women in leadership roles.

Valeria Betancourt

Radka Sibille

Persistent structural discrimination and exclusion

Lack of women in tech leadership and decision-making roles

Both speakers emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, particularly involving the private sector, in addressing the gender digital divide.

Roy Eriksson

Kedi Välba

Private sector partnerships to fund and support women in tech

Multi-stakeholder collaboration platforms like D4D Hub

Key Takeaways

The gender digital divide remains a significant obstacle to achieving economic growth and equality globally

Barriers to women’s digital inclusion include lack of access to skills training, cultural/societal barriers, lack of trust in women’s tech capabilities, and underrepresentation in leadership roles

Multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, private sector, civil society and communities is crucial for bridging the gender digital divide

Empowering women in the digital economy has significant economic and social benefits

Community-driven, bottom-up approaches that put women at the center are most effective for meaningful digital inclusion

Resolutions and Action Items

Use existing infrastructure like libraries and post offices to provide digital skills training to women and girls

Implement coding camps and digital literacy programs specifically for girls and women

Promote and support women’s entrepreneurship in the tech sector

Ensure gender inclusivity is incorporated into all digital development projects and policies

Encourage girls to pursue STEM education and careers through mentorship and positive messaging

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively address deep-rooted cultural and societal barriers discouraging women from tech fields

Ways to increase women’s representation in tech leadership and decision-making roles

Methods to build trust in women’s capabilities within male-dominated tech sectors

Strategies to make online spaces safer and more respectful for women

Suggested Compromises

Balancing the need for rapid digital development with ensuring inclusivity and gender sensitivity in all initiatives

Finding ways for public and private sectors to collaborate effectively despite potential mistrust

According to ITU, worldwide, in 2022, 69% of men were Internet users, compared with 63% of women. This means that globally, there are 244 million more men than women using the Internet. Moreover, recent statistics show that women comprise only about 25% of the tech workforce. This disparity is even bigger in leadership positions, where women hold only 11% of executive roles.

speaker

Christophe Farnaud

reason

This comment provides concrete statistics that highlight the scale of the gender digital divide, setting the stage for the urgency of the discussion.

impact

It framed the subsequent conversation by emphasizing the magnitude of the problem and the need for action across multiple sectors.

I think the biggest barrier to ensuring that we close the digital gender gap would be the opportunity for girls and women to actually learn the skills they need. There are so many impediments to them being able to access the material they need to ensure that they get online and basic skills to actually be familiar with the Internet

speaker

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

reason

This insight identifies a key root cause of the digital gender divide – lack of access to skills and learning opportunities.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards practical solutions and the importance of education and skill-building initiatives.

Estonia’s history is interesting in that sense that we regained our independence in 1991 and this is when Estonia had to kind of invent what we’re going to be or how we’re going to develop. We had very strong leadership and our prime minister and president both were for the way of digitalization. Our journey began about 30 years ago already and this was all collaboration between the private sector, public sector and also including the academia.

speaker

Kedi Välba

reason

This comment provides a concrete example of how a country successfully implemented digital transformation through multi-stakeholder collaboration.

impact

It introduced the importance of political will and cross-sector partnerships in driving digital inclusion, influencing subsequent discussions on policy approaches.

I think first, it is very important to enable regulatory frameworks that allow for the coexistence of different models and different ways to provide connectivity, for instance, because that will also create the conditions through the regulatory and legal frameworks be able to precisely, for instance, deploy community networks and infrastructure that is owned by the community in a way that will have and ensure the financial sustainability

speaker

Valeria Betancourt

reason

This insight highlights the importance of flexible regulatory frameworks in enabling diverse approaches to digital inclusion.

impact

It broadened the discussion to include policy and regulatory considerations, emphasizing the need for adaptable approaches that can accommodate community-driven solutions.

There are religious, cultural barriers to girls even thinking of going into a technical field, even just the discussion in the house. You almost become an anomaly if you want to go outside of the traditional types of employment that you want to have.

speaker

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

reason

This comment brings attention to the deep-rooted societal and cultural barriers that contribute to the gender digital divide.

impact

It deepened the conversation by highlighting the need to address underlying social norms and expectations, not just technical or educational barriers.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by progressively broadening its scope from identifying the problem (using statistics) to exploring its root causes (lack of skills, cultural barriers) and potential solutions (multi-stakeholder collaboration, flexible regulatory frameworks). The conversation evolved from a high-level overview to a nuanced exploration of practical, policy-oriented, and societal approaches to bridging the gender digital divide. This progression allowed for a comprehensive examination of the issue, incorporating perspectives from government, private sector, and civil society representatives.

How can libraries be leveraged as key partners and access points for digital literacy skills and empowerment for women and young girls?

speaker

Damilare Oydele

explanation

Libraries have existing infrastructure and space to deliver digital skills training. Understanding how to engage libraries in plans and collaborative engagements could help scale digital skills development for women and girls.

What can be done to work on the mindset of girls to get them more involved in technology?

speaker

Peter Zanga Jackson Jr.

explanation

There is limited women’s participation in technology fields. Understanding how to change perceptions and encourage more women to enter tech is important for increasing diversity.

How can regulatory frameworks be developed to allow for complementary models of connectivity provision, including community-owned infrastructure?

speaker

Valeria Betancourt

explanation

Enabling diverse connectivity models through regulation could help bridge the digital divide, especially for women and underserved communities.

How can financial mechanisms like universal service funds be leveraged to ensure sustainability of women-led digital initiatives?

speaker

Valeria Betancourt

explanation

Targeted financial support is needed to sustain community-driven and women-led digital projects over time.

How can partnerships between government, private sector, and communities be formed to utilize existing infrastructure (like post offices) for digital skills training?

speaker

H.E Emma Inamutila Theofelus

explanation

Leveraging existing infrastructure through multi-stakeholder partnerships could expand access to digital skills training, especially for women.

How can women’s entrepreneurship in the tech sector be boosted to create more opportunities for other women?

speaker

Kedi Välba

explanation

Increasing the number of women founders and CEOs in tech could help create more inclusive work environments and opportunities for women in the sector.