Women’s participation in ICT will facilitate SDG achievement: Study

The involvement of women in information and communication technology will significantly strengthen their social and economic empowerment which will eventually help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the SDG-5, according to a study. 

The findings of the study, conducted by Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID), was disseminated at a programme at the BRAC Centre in the capital on Wednesday. 

If women's participation in the ICT sector can be increased from the current 33.7 per cent to 82 per cent, it will result in 1.6 per cent more GDP growth, the study says. This achievement will help the country make stronger strides towards its SDG targets. 

However, the effort to meaningfully expand women's engagement in the ICT sector entails tackling a number of challenges, including social and family hurdles, lack of required knowledge and skills, lack of inspiration and fear of security in the virtual space, the study noted. 

In this interview-based study, three major challenges for ICT education for young women have been referred which are bringing change in the perception of young women about ICT education, lack of knowledge and skills in ICT and lack of required skills to engage in the sector. 

A total of 164 female students at different universities were interviewed for the study. 

BIID, BRAC, Plan International Bangladesh and Preneur Lab jointly organised the programme on the occasion of the International Girls in ICT Day that falls on Thursday. 

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was present at the event as the chief guest while State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak as a special guest, reports UNB. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Speaker identified three areas of work to strengthen women's participation in the ICT sector. These are undertaking focused effort to popularise the sector among women, recognising ICT as a specialised sector requiring specialised human resources and spreading the message that it is a sector that will reconstruct the future.