Pro-Poor and Gender Sensitive Information Technology: Policy and Practice

Summary

In Pakistan, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) hold the promise of "long-term, inclusionary, equitable, and broad-based social development". However, as Abbasi argues, women are often left out. "If you again look at the IT policy, not-so-surprisingly, you may find some reference to womens' role in IT but that is mostly in low paid data-entry engagements. The answers to questions like: How can the purchasing power and capacity of women be augmented so that they can access inputs for their technological and social reach to IT resources? Can IT work for social development of women? have not been taken into account." Abbasi blames the dearth of attention to these questions on the "systematic failures" in the public and private sector to deliver, which have "led to disruptions and sometimes breakdown of such services of the poor...These disruptions and failures, in the absence of parallel, formal, knowledge-based social infrastructures and social safety nets have very negative impacts on society and especially on women and children." Women, in particular, find themselves trapped by poverty, remoteness, and paucity of opportunities.

The solution, according to Abbasi, involves "pro-poor social interest articulation" that involves construction of an active social sector and building the capacity of communities to share and bolster old and new sources of knowledge. The Information for Development Program (InfoDev), quoted in the article, notes that "...to leapfrog into the future, developing countries need a place where information on building an infrastructure, accessing social services, organizing production and creating an investor-friendly environment can be shared. Economic growth needs knowledge. The more knowledge is shared, the more growth is generated in industrialized as well as emerging nations." Knowledge, Abbasi claims, needs to be impacted at three levels: first, improvement in knowledge products, services, and processes; second, use of old and new sources of knowledge, and; third, development of the capacity of public, private, and the social sector to offer innovative approaches.

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