The Role of ICT in Women's Empowerment in Rural\ud Bangladesh

Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public\ud spheres due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women suffer from severe\ud discrimination, and it is thought this is heightened due to a lack of access to\ud information. Information communication and technology (ICT) is a potential tool\ud that can reach rural women and enrich their knowledge. This paper discusses\ud women‟s empowerment in terms of perceptual change in rural villages in\ud Bangladesh after ICT intervention has been introduced by Non-Government\ud Organizations (NGOs). Since empowerment is a complex phenomenon to measure\ud because of its multidimensional aspects and its relationship with time as a process,\ud the methodology used in this research was an integration of qualitative and\ud quantitative methods. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from\ud women in two different villages where ICT projects have been introduced. The\ud change in women‟s perception after using ICT was compared with changes in\ud women who did not use ICT. The results indicate that ICT intervention changed\ud women‟s perception in a positive direction in one village but it did not change in\ud the other village

Cognitive change in women's empowerment in rural Bangladesh

Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public spheres due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women suffer from severe discrimination, due partly to a lack of access to information. Information and communication and technologies (ICT) are tools that potentially can reach rural women and address their knowledge and information needs. Considering this scenario, the aim of this paper is to examine the situation of rural women using ICT tools provided by non-government and government organizations, and investigate whether access to ICT has changed their lives in terms of socio-economic development. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from women in villages where two different ICT projects have been introduced. The change in women's awareness, skills and knowledge of the wider environment on various issues (including health, education, legal rights) is described. These cognitive changes were compared in women with ICT intervention and women who did not use ICT. The overall cognitive awareness of the women indicates more changes among women with ICT intervention than without. Therefore, ICT intervention in rural villages in Bangladesh is leading to empowerment

Role of information and communication technology (ICT): Women's empowerment in rural Bangladesh

Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public spheres (e.g., educational, health, law and human rights institutions, and many public services) due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women also suffer severe discrimination, thought to be due to lack of access to information. Information and communication technologies (ICT) can reach rural women and have the potential to address knowledge and information needs. The aim of this research was to examine the situation of rural women in Bangladesh in using ICT provided by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and investigated whether empowerment was enabled or enhanced through ICT intervention. Since empowerment is a complex phenomenon to measure a model – Women’s Empowerment Measurement through ICT (WEM-ICT) – was developed to take into consideration the socio-cultural norms and context of rural Bangladesh. Using a structured questionnaire based on the model, data was collected from both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in two villages where different ICT projects have been introduced. A second data set was collected two years later using the same instrument for longitudinal as well as new participants. This research explored the impact of ICT intervention in women’s lives in the micro (individual or domestic), meso (village or community) and macro (global, national or regional) environments through an investigation of material, cognitive, perceptual, relational and technological dimensions. Since it is important to make women aware of the benefit of their empowerment through information and knowledge sharing, this research focused on the information gap and suggested possible ways to reduce the gap at the implementation level. The results indicated that the context of the villages, culture, awareness, maturity and engagement affected the empowerment process. ICT intervention impacted positively on many empowerment factors in both villages but other factors did not change due to cultural and traditional aspects of rural Bangladesh. This thesis concludes that consideration of the socio-cultural context at the policy level of ICT intervention for women’s empowerment is a key element for the success of an ICT intervention

The role of ICT in women's empowerment in rural Bangladesh

Rural women in Bangladesh have limited access to resources and public spheres due to socio-cultural restrictions. Women suffer from severe discrimination, and it is thought this is heightened due to a lack of access to information. Information communication and technology (ICT) is a potential tool that can reach rural women and enrich their knowledge. This paper discusses women‟s empowerment in terms of perceptual change in rural villages in Bangladesh after ICT intervention has been introduced by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Since empowerment is a complex phenomenon to measure because of its multidimensional aspects and its relationship with time as a process, the methodology used in this research was an integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from women in two different villages where ICT projects have been introduced. The change in women‟s perception after using ICT was compared with changes in women who did not use ICT. The results indicate that ICT intervention changed women‟s perception in a positive direction in one village but it did not change in the other village

Speciation of arsenic in vegetables and their correlation with inorganic phosphate level

A total 400 vegetable sample of 20 varieties of three categories were collected from a local market of Dhaka city. Speciation of arsenic (inorganic arsenic, MMA and DMM) and the amount of inorganic phosphate were estimated. There was no significant variation in the concentrations of inorganic phosphate levels amoung the three categories of vegetables. But in case of arsenic accumulation the fruiting vegetables, root and tuber vegetables and leafy vegetables showed significant variation. There was either positive or negative relationship present in inorganic phosphate and speciated arsenic among the vegetables. Significant negative relationship between inorganic phosphate and inorganic arsenic is observed in different types of fruiting vegetables e.g., bitter ground, tomato; between inorganic phosphate and DMA in bitter gourd; and between inorganic phosphate and total arsenic in bitter gourd, lady's finger, and tomato. The fruiting vegetables contained low level of arsenic, which might have some relationship with higher level of inorganic phosphate. In root and tuber vegetables, significant relationship was present in arum. But in case of arum loti significant positive relationship was observed between inorganic phosphate and DMA. The present study shows that the leafy vegetables contained higher level of inorganic phosphate in contrast to arsenic, though they had no significant relationship between inorganic phosphate and different speciated form of arsenic

Speciation of arsenic in vegetables and their correlation with inorganic phosphate level

A total 400 vegetable sample of 20 varieties of three categories were collected from a local market of Dhaka city. Speciation of arsenic (inorganic arsenic, MMA and DMM) and the amount of inorganic phosphate were estimated. There is no significant variation in the concentrations of inorganic phosphate levels amoung the three categories of vegetables. But in case of arsenic accumulation the fruiting vegetables, root and tuber vegetables and leafy vegetables showed significant variation. There is either positive or negative relationship present in inorganic phosphate and speciated arsenic among the vegetables. Significant negative relationship between inorganic phosphate and inorganic arsenic is observed in different types of fruiting vegetables e.g., bitter ground, tomato, between inorganic phosphate and DMA in bitter gourd, and between inorganic phosphate and total arsenic in bitter gourd, lady's finger, and tomato. The fruiting vegetables contain low level of arsenic, which might have some relationship with higher level of inorganic phosphate. In root and tuber vegetables, significant relationship was present in arum. But in case of arum loti significant positive relationship is observed between inorganic phosphate and DMA. The present study shows that the leafy vegetables contain higher level of inorganic phosphate in contrast to arsenic, though they had no significant relationship between inorganic phosphate and different speciated form of arsenic

Application of Combined SWOT and AHP for Strategy Development: Evidence from Pottery Industry of Bangladesh

This study aims to explore the appropriate strategies to revive the pottery industry development in Bangladesh. The research followed SWOT-AHP combined method that is based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) weighting methodology. SWOT analysis is one of the popular tools for environmental scanning to identify the internal and external environmental factors simultaneously for defining an enterprise’s strategic actions. Due to some flaws of SWOT analysis, this study followed the AHP, which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach. The qualitative data collection consisted of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and in-depth Interviews. We analyzed quantitative data by the AHP to identify the relative prominence of each SWOT factor analysis. The results revealed that potters have an innovative capacity. Due to the lack of administrative coordination and fierce competition with alternatives products such as plastic, metallic products, they face some difficulties. Still reliability in the marketplace is increasing with time. These findings guide to generate useful inference and could be utilized for decision-making and policies formulation in pottery industry

Application of Combined SWOT and AHP for Strategy Development: Evidence from Pottery Industry of Bangladesh

This study aims to explore the appropriate strategies to revive the pottery industry development in Bangladesh. The research followed SWOT-AHP combined method that is based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) weighting methodology. SWOT analysis is one of the popular tools for environmental scanning to identify the internal and external environmental factors simultaneously for defining an enterprise’s strategic actions. Due to some flaws of SWOT analysis, this study followed the AHP, which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach. The qualitative data collection consisted of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and in-depth Interviews. We analyzed quantitative data by the AHP to identify the relative prominence of each SWOT factor analysis. The results revealed that potters have an innovative capacity. Due to the lack of administrative coordination and fierce competition with alternatives products such as plastic, metallic products, they face some difficulties. Still reliability in the marketplace is increasing with time. These findings guide to generate useful inference and could be utilized for decision-making and policies formulation in pottery industry