Empowering Philippino women to bridge the digital access divide

According to a Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) official, about 65% of Phlippinos still do not have an internet connection, and it is apparent that actively participating in the digital world offers a wide variety of possibilities.

Ana Mae Lamentillo, DICT Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Foreign Relations, cited DICT’s Women in ICT Development Index (WIDI) in a speech at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), stating that 86 percent of Philippino women have access to the internet but do not use it for practical activities and that DICT is motivated to make efforts to connect the community with cyberspace, regardless of gender or age differences.

Only approximately 20% of Philipinos have used the internet to search for employment or entrepreneurial possibilities, and only 55% of women have purchased products and services online.

Lamentillo emphasised the digital gender gap during the start of ADB’s International Women’s Committee (IWC) speaking series, highlighting an International Finance Corporation research that revealed female entrepreneurs could compete better if they had the essential digital sales skills.

Lamentillo was commissioned to speak on her work supporting women’s empowerment in the digital economy as the inaugural speaker for IWC, ADB’s informal body that stimulates internal dialogue within the ADB community and gives help to ADB’s foreign female workers.