If there is any positive lesson taken from the COVID pandemic, it is the importance of technology in our lives. Digital transformation has become the order of day, even for those without technologies. Every sector, organizations, institutions and even people’s family engagement were all digitized, leaving many people marginalized.
The lingering question is how do we level the playing field for everyone to join this digital transformation phenomenon to cater for all, such as gender inclusion, youth engagement, governmental and non-governmental, rural and urban area participation and more.
Yes, we are all excited about technological advancement and how it’s transforming lives. However, we should all take a step back and see the marginalized groups left behind and come up with concrete solutions to achieve equity digital access to all.
Statistics showed that women constitute 48.98 percent of the world population, yet still, we are the least represented in this digital transformation process. What are we doing to increase women’s representation in the digital space especially at workplaces and educational institutions? The digital gap is still wide despite all the initiatives put in place.
Again, with the rise in cyberbullying to climate change, more women are affected and I believe all these can be solved if a more inclusive approach is taken. Women are the cradle of any home and backbone of our society, we cannot achieve any meaningful results in the digital space without having women at the helm of the decision making.
To ensure more inclusive to fair and unbiased digital transformation, an all-inclusive-digital-friendly approach needs to be implemented, such as introducing digital literacy programs in educational curriculum to schools and institutions at all levels, making policies that are inclusive and hiring diverse group and encouraging more women in key roles where decisions about digital transformation ideas are discussed.
A more Inclusive digital transformation can support awareness of rights and strengthen exercising one’s rights related to access to information, cultural and political participation because they can easily access and evaluate information online to make better informed decisions. For instance, cyber bullying and harassment cases can be reduced if more women are educated about the signs of it and given the precautionary measures to take.
Youths like me in the tech industry will not stop talking about gender inclusivity in technology. And we are using forums like Generation Connect Youth Global Summit and World Telecommunication Development Conference to discuss better digital space for all and they involve and promote youths participation at all levels to have a better and fair digital sphere for all. Thus, such organizations and their agendas need to be supported and promoted at all cost.
Finally, coming back to my question, how do we tackle this matter as one digitally connected society?
I wish I knew the answer but I don’t.
What is your take?
What are you doing to change the current state of the digital sphere?
About Author
Aji Fama Jobe is blogger, software developer and digital feminist: To learn more of her work, click here