Solutions needed! It’s time to close the digital gender divide Thumbnail
Women in Tech 10 October 2017

Solutions needed! It’s time to close the digital gender divide

Raquel Gatto
By Raquel GattoFormer Senior Manager, Policy

If you could sneak peek a future in 10 years in which the Internet is everywhere, would it still be the same access for men and women, boys and girls?

The latest Internet Society report focused on the future of the Internet Society shows that new digital divides are emerging. One of them is a gender divide.  Today 250 million fewer women than men use the Internet. If we don’t act now to close this gap, we will lose out on a digital future that includes everyone.

Closing the digital divide and bridging the gender gap is a promise the world made to itself in 2015 when world leaders ratified the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

This week more than 100 Ministers and 1,500 delegates are attending the World Telecommunications Development Conference, a 10-day meeting dedicated finding new solutions on how Information and Communication Technologies can advance development.

We’re here to send a message that to shape a digital future that benefits all of humanity, we need new thinking, new approaches and new tools for this rapidly changing world around us.

We need your help.

If you’re at the World Telecommunications Development Conference register now for the side event dedicated to finding solutions to techs gender gap not through building relationships, sparking inspiration and offering concrete solutions for policy and decision makers.

If you’re not in Buenos Aires we still need to hear your ideas! Go on Twitter and tag @internetsociety with your ideas.

Don’t wait. The time to take action is now.  If we don’t, we risk loosing generations of women who can contribute to shaping the Internet’s future.

Photo: “Women of Takalafiya-Lapai village” © 2010 World Bank Photo Collection CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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