Government and Corporate Initiatives for Indian Women in IT

Education of women severely lags behind that of men in many developing nations. Fewer girls go to school, tend to drop out earlier than boys, do not receive the same level of education as their male counterparts, and often choose careers that are female predominant (Kelly, 1987). Without exception, India is quite representative of these gender-biased phenomena in education. However, the recent explosion of offshore outsourcing market in India has created a new recognition regarding the role of women in technological careers. The Indian IT sector has seen a trend contrary to what most western nations are experiencing—predominance of women in IT, particularly in IT-enabled services (ITES). India has acknowledged that extensive and intensive use of information and communications technologies (ICT) alone can help the nation develop its neglected human resources, emerge as a knowledge-based society, and participate competitively in the global trade and services. Consequently, the development of ICT has become a national issue with strong impetus from the union government in New Delhi (Choudhary, 1999). Explicit in this initiative is the recognition that to progress as an information society, women must be empowered as key players the IT sector. In parallel, two other trends have focused attention on women in the information society—a nationwide movement for women’s rights spearheaded by many non-government organizations (NGOs) and an increased awareness of corporate social responsibility. Consequently, over the last decade, there has been an increased emphasis on education and reskilling India’s female workforce. While many government efforts are targeted toward the overall upliftment of women, many grassroots level initiatives led by NGO’s and corporations emphasize technological training. This article highlights how the intertwining of grassroots and policy level efforts can increase the pace at which a nation’s female workforce can be reskilled and prepared for a technological world. The article also addresses concerns about such rapid development and potentially challenging outcomes while making recommendations for improvement

Learning IoT without the "I" - Educational Internet of Things in a Developing Context

To provide better education to children from different socio-economic backgrounds, the Thai Government launched the "One Tablet PC Per Child" (OTPC) policy and distributed 800,000 tablet computers to first grade students across the country in 2012. This initiative is an opportunity to study how mobile learning and Internet of Things (IoT) technology can be designed for students in underprivileged areas of northern Thailand. In this position paper, we present a prototype, called OBSY (Observation Learning System) which targets primary science education. OBSY consists of i) a sensor device, developed with low-cost open source singled-board computer Raspberry Pi, housed in a 3D printed case, ii) a mobile device friendly graphical interface displaying visualisations of the sensor data, iii) a self-contained DIY Wi-Fi network which allows the system to operate in an environment with inadequate ICT infrastructure

Digital engagement: a preliminary analysis of marginalized youth in the information society

Efforts have been made to narrow the digital divide in disadvantaged communities through increased investment in Internet infrastructure, with such initiatives particularly advanced by community-based facilities. The hope is for such investment to afford more underprivileged groups the benefits of 21st century society, where many public services are, by default, accessible online. Accordingly, this study focusses on how 15-to-25-year-old Malaysian youths in marginalised communities engage with the Internet in performing various activities in their everyday lives. The findings indicate that the majority of these individuals have access to the Internet but that their engagement spans only basic activities such as communication and uploading and downloading of materials. In terms of intermediate and advanced activities, the investigated youths minimally shop online, search for educational materials and participate in civic and political causes. The results also indicate that attitudes towards the Internet considerably influence the decision of Malaysian youth to occupy themselves with digital activities. Fostering a digitally-inclusive society necessitates expanding digital engagement beyond basic activities - a goal that can be achieved by improving the digital literacy of youth and offering them participatory literacy programmes

Report on Polish Public Libraries 2001

Report is an overview of polish public libraries, services to a variety of communities, it also provides statistics, n explanation of the funding policy for public libraries in Poland and information about the governance of public libraries in the country

Diaspora Philanthropy: The Philippine Experience

Outlines Filipino migration trends and effects; why, what, how, to whom, and how much the diaspora in the United States gives back to the Philippines; and recommendations for expanding scale and impact. Includes a case study of Ayala Foundation USA

EXAMINING INTERNET USAGE PATTERNS ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTRES IN GHANA

In this paper, we explore the socio-economic effects of internet use at the community information centres (CICs) on livelihoods in three regions of Ghana. Sustainable livelihood framework was used as a lens to understand the phenomena being studied. Primary and secondary data collection methods were used. Three CICs in three regions were purposively selected and qualitative research method was adopted for the study. The data were analysed using Nvivo. The findings showed that sending email information was largely the reason why people used the Internet. We found that through the Internet, people learn, develop new business ideas and expand the market for their businesses. Internet service users cut costs of operation as well as increasing returns on investment. The internet as a social technology has also made business promotion and product launch accessible and affordable. Several small businesses have found ways to use theInternet to increase their brand awareness and get more clients at a minimal cost, and improved social discovery. With social networks like Face book and Twitter, people have easily kept up with all old friends and also made new ones both far and near. Despite these benefits, the use of Internet services at the CICs was bedeviled with some challenges such aspoor internet connectivity, cost of internet services and lack of staff skills to leverage its potential and empower clients. The result of the study provides a deeper understanding of the subject area, based on empirical evidence from the three regions of Ghana. The study recommended that CIC staff should develop a mind-set that is much more customer-focused and should treat the most underprivileged members of the communitiesastheirmostvaluedcustomersaswellastryingtounderstandtheirneeds and CIC project initiators need to be aware of the barriers that hinder people in marginalized communities from using CIC services. Efforts should be made to expand the benefits of the technologies to the majority. Failure to do this would mean that very few people would benefit from the CICs and the digital divide between rural and urban areas would still widen

The Evolution from Physical to Virtual Library

This paper examines the impact of the Internet and computer networking on library technical services and discusses the issue of access vs. ownership of materials

Philanthropy on the Road to Nationhood in Singapore Philanthropy in Asia: Working Paper No. 1

This paper attempts to address the gap in knowledge on the contributions by philanthropic players to national development in Singapore. Using grounded research, it explores the evolution of giving by individuals, the community and the private sector in Singapore from the end of World War II in 1945 to today. It looks at how each group gives towards prevailing social needs, unexpected events and crises as well as government calls for community support across fve key phases in Singapore's journey to nationhood. To provide context to the giving, the political and socio-economic situation of each time frame and concurrent government social welfare provisions in each phase are also described