Leveraging women participation in entrepreneurship through mobile technology

Abstract

A desktop survey of existing literature on technology adaption and women participation in the workforce and SMEs identified some gaps in the Kenyan Economic Sector. These gaps included: The contribution to economic growth between Micro and Small and Medium Sized Enterprise's (SMEs); Representation in the workforce between women and their male counterparts; The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in business between the low and high education background entrepreneurs. This research set out to bridge these gaps. It was funded by the National Council of Science and Technology1(NCST) and is being conducted by researchers From the United States International University, Kenya Polytechnic and The Ark solution providers. The project comprises of two phases with the first involving the development of an adaptive model that boosts women in the MSE sector through the use of relevant and accessible technology. The second phase involves the development of a mobile application to implement the proposed model. The first phase is almost complete and the second phase commences in May 2013. This paper discusses the activities conducted in the first phase to arrive at the proposed adaptive model that boosts the MSE sector through the use of relevant and accessible technology. The data has already been collected and analyzed and the initial results are ready for dissemination