Research on ICTs
Research: Examining the Potential of ICTs
Women'sNet undertakes research on ICTs as they relate to women and gender, and as they intersect with content development. Women'sNet is particularly interested in examining the impact that ICTs have on women's lives and their potential to meet development goals (in particular the Millennium Development Goals).
Our research work in the past includes the following:
- South Africa: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Two key debates are examined in the paper by Shereen Essof: censorship versus freedom of expression and privacy versus surveillance. She looks at the practices of VAW in a country with the world's highest reported rate of femicide and where there is little understanding of the strategic use of ICTs to support combating VAW as well as recognizing new avenues for perpetrating violence against women.
Link: http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=a--e96274-1&x=96274
- Access to Online Information and Knowledge – Advancing Human Rights and Democracy
This report was commisioned by the Global Information Society. Women'sNet undertook research on access to online Information and Knowledge in South Africa, 2009. The report includes several thematic reports covering areas such as intellectual property rights, knowledge rights, open standards and access to educational materials and libraries, as well as an institutional overview and a reflection on indicators that track access to information and knowledge. There is also an innovate section on visual mapping of global rights and political crises. The report was written by Lebogang Marishane.
Link: http://www.giswatch.org/gisw2009/
- A Rapid Assessment of the use of Mobiles in HIV/Aids prevention, treatment and care work
In December 2006, Women'sNet was contracted by UNICEF to conduct a scoping study on how mobile telephony is used in development practice in general and specifically in relation to HIV/Aids prevention, treatment and care work. The study looks at both national and regional examples, with a view to distilling best practices that UNICEF can replicate and upscale in its joint programming with the Department of Health. The research examines the potential of the technologies for meeting the development needs of South Africans. The assessment focuses on South Africa, but does examine projects in Africa as they might apply here. It lists key considerations - both developmental and technology-based - and makes recommendations for future endeavours involving cell phone technologies for development. The report was written by Sally-Jean Shackleton, with contributions by Toni Eliasz of Ungana-Afrika.
document link below (PDF)
- Women in the Information and Communication Technology Sector in South Africa
This study was commissioned by the Embassy of Finland in South Africa as part of a larger study to investigate mechanisms for stimulating the increased participation of women in high-level ICT skills in South Africa. This report, published by the Meraka Institute and Icteum consulting, forms Part 2 of three documents and presents a snapshot of the situation of women in high-level Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in South Africa. The findings are based primarily on desktop research carried out during the period February to July 2006, strengthened by consultations with selected South African experts and key players. The report is edited by Tina James, and the Women'sNet team made contributions as contributing editor and research support.
Link: http://women-in-ict.meraka.csir.co.za/images/7/76/National_print.pdf
- National ICT Skills Development Strategy
In October 2006, Women'sNet was contracted for 6 months by the Department of Communications (DoC) to develop a framework for developing a national ICT skills development strategy. The research was intended to deepen the understanding of the ICT skills supply and demand dynamic, and to develop some proposals of how the address the mismatch between the skills available and the skills demanded by the ICT industry. Natasha Primo conducted the work on behalf of Women'sNet. The first full draft of the report was handed to the DoC in April 2007.(Contact the Department of Communication for more information)
- Engendering Broadcast Legislation:
In 2001, a Women'sNet-led consortium was awarded a tender by the National Department of Communications to investigate and make recommendations on how existing broadcast legislation and regulations could be made more gender-aware. The project sought to understand how effective existing broadcast legislation and government policy have been in: advancing the position of women in the media sector; and promoting diverse images of women that challenge mainstream and stereotypical notions about the social roles and status of South African women across different ages, ethnicities, as well as cultures and religions, amongst others.
(contact Department of Communications)
Share our Website Bookmarks:
You can find us on delicious at: http://delicious.com/womensnet. You will find links to all the research sources we found interesting. (Delicious is a bookmark sharing website - a useful resource for researchers to share the websites they found relevant)
