SIGI calls for women’s integration in ICT sector on World Information Society Day

AMMAN — Wednesday marked the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2017 (WTISD-17), under the theme “Big Data for Big Impact”, providing an opportunity to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, unstructured data into concrete information applicable in a development context.

Highlighting the numerous challenges resulting from the widespread use of information communication technology (ICT) tools in the world, Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) stressed the importance of empowering women in the ICT sector as an active participant in sustainable development, according to a SIGI statement.

Such challenges have to be addressed to ensure women’s participation in the sector’s development, while also improving their skills and knowledge in ICT in order to enhance their participation and improve their living conditions.

In Jordan, the most recent survey by the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (int@j) showed that women make up 28 per cent (4,702 employees) of the total number of the 16,793 employees working in the ICT sector.

In 2015, women users of computers amounted to 45.1 per cent, with\15 to 19 years old constituting the highest rate with 68.6 per cent of users. Women 65 years and older were the least likely to be computer users, with only 1.8 per cent.

SIGI also said that the percentage of Internet users who are five years old and above stood at 48.4 per cent among women and at 51.6 per cent for men.

The age of 20 to 24 years age group marked the highest number of Internet users, with 81.9 per cent of men and 78.1 per cent of women, SIGI noted.

Houses, workplaces, schools and universities are the places where women mainly use the Internet, while their use of Internet cafes stands at 2.5 per cent.