access

In this report back from AfChix TechWomen Summit 2018, Kazanka Comfort talks about the inclusion of young women in science and tehcnology programs in university, discussions around the possibilities offered by community networks to own and manage infrastructure by the people. In particular Kazanka looks at how women are affected by sectarian conflict and working with ICTs and training in…

In this column on community networks and gender, the writers will explore how communities can provide and run their own internet infrastructure, the existing forms of community networks, the legal and policy environment in which they have to exist and what are the gender dynamics around these networks. The first column asks a fundamental question - what would be the costs of women NOT having…

Community networks offer an alternative to how connectivity, especially in remote areas, is largely determined by the market or state infrastructure. In this article Tigist Hussen explores the place of gender and feminist analysis in community networks, and specifically in the Zenzeleni network in Mankosi, South Africa. What she finds is surprising, humbling and insightful for researchers and…

In the field of research around gender and ICTs, there is particular attention required to the question of research methodology. How do women use ICTs, what do they need them for, what is the power dynamics around access and distribution? In this specific research project around potential use of ICTs, Catalina Alzate shows how participatory action research, design and creativity can be pulled…

The articles in this bilingual edition point to how visibility of our bodies and our stories is the starting point of a different way of being. The stories we tell of struggles and perseverance, of movements and solidarity – entangled as they are in the fine wires of technology – are necessary and essential and could be the foundations for the movement for change. This edition is not…

In this article, Serene Lim takes a closer look at how questions of access to the internet relate to the struggles of indigenous people and their movement for rights. Rather than the top-down imposition of connectivity, projects for access should align with their social context and as part of their right to sustainable development and right to equal participation.

In this last column by Chenai Chair following the gender implications of the research by Research ICT Africa on access, she explores how researchers and activists can proactively explore gender dimensions. Even as ITU figures point to a progressively increasing gender digital divide, there are steps to take to understand and address this divide.

The sustainable development goals explicitly mention gender equality, yet how will this be achieved and how is this linked to the potentially transformative role that ICTs could play. If the SDGs are going to use ICTs as a vehicle to achieve the goals then we need to use an intersectional and multi-pronged approach to ensure that women, girls and other marginalized groups are not left behind.

Gendered barriers to internet access can range from social and cultural barriers imposed within family or by partners to extraneous factors relevant to all - such as affordability of data and devices. In this column Chenai Chair examines the specificity of how access is different for women and men.