Young Women are creating a web that is open to all

Recently, I was inspired by Ivy Barley — a young woman who joined us in the #Tech4Youth Twitter Chat. Ivy is the winner of the Ghana Youth Social Enterprise Competition, supported by DOT and GhanaThink. Ivy is a leader and perfect example of a young woman who is redefining the role women and girls play in ICT.

Developers in Vogue, Ivy’s social enterprise, develops the digital skills of girls and women and also connects skilled women developers with opportunities in technology companies. Ivy’s strong business sense and her commitment to working with women and girls to ensure that they are welcome and represented in digital spaces is inspiring.

Ivy Barley, founder of Developers in Vogue and winner of the #eskills4girls competition

While we are seeing more young women like Ivy who are leading social innovation in the tech sector, the gender digital divide still exists. women have lower rates of technology adoption and engagement compared to men, due to a range of barriers that include limited access and digital skills, as well as social and cultural norms. According to ONE’s Making the Connection report, over 71% of Africa’s girls and women will still not be online by 2020, which would push the connectivity gap between men and women to over 26%. And when women are excluded from the Internet, they are excluded from the social and economic benefits of technology.

The #Tech4Youth Twitter Chat, facilitated by DOT, RLabs and other partners of The Mastercard Foundation, was a forum for youth in Africa to share their experiences about how they overcome barriers to using technology, and how they are now leveraging digital tools to create opportunities and transform their communities.

Our conversation reinforced the fact that young African women are having amazing impact on their communities through technology. They are socially minded, and committed to using the web for community change.

It is this group that inspires me and that I look towards to create a relevant, engaging web that is open and welcoming to all. It is this group that will bring the next billion online.

On Girls in ICT day, there are several key messages emerging from conversations that I think are worth sharing. Supporting girls and young women to become digitally engaged is a process that starts with raising awareness of the benefits and purpose of technology, facilitates access, addresses trust and safety issues, and finally, develops the broad cross-section of skills required to support meaningful and productive digital engagement.

• We need to build awareness not just about what technology is available, but about how to apply it in ways that add value to women’s everyday lives, benefiting their families and communities. In fact, an increase in this understanding is seen as a key driver of women’s technology adoption.
• It’s important that we build safe spaces for women to engage online, thereby earning their trust. Both men and women need to gain essential digital citizenship skills that contribute to effective and inclusive communication online. This includes respecting individuals and not tolerating hate and harassment, as well as developing critical skills such as detecting false information or other scams that may target vulnerable online users.
• Purpose is closely tied to the creation of relevant content which is necessary to create a web that is interesting, relevant and representative. The financial and opportunity costs of accessing technology are significant, especially for women, who generally have less available time and money than men. The value of using technology has to outweigh the costs.
• The required skills are many. In order to harness the benefits of technology, young women must be supported not only to develop digital skills like coding, web writing, and research, but also business skills like online marketing, digitally-enabled financial management and critical thinking skills such as recognizing bias and seeking out diverse sources of information.

Girls and young women have the opportunity to change the face of the tech industry by creating digitally-enabled enterprises and initiatives that work for them. There is a huge opportunity for smaller, creative and diverse businesses to develop and use technology in new ways. Women can, and already do lead these enterprises. In addition, women can and do work within larger companies to ensure that both male and female perspectives are represented in strategy, user experience design, coding, marketing and financing. This makes good business sense as markets expand when products and services reflect the needs and experiences of both sexes.

Young women like Ivy are creating opportunities for themselves and for other young women and men around the world. Let’s celebrate them today and follow as they lead us into the future.