Bridging the digital gender divide

At the Internet Society Foundation we are deeply aware of how the digital gender gap affects women’s livelihoods, health, and education outcomes. As our society becomes more digitally dependent, women, their wider communities and entire nations are at risk of losing out on the benefits of full participation in digital economies.

To acknowledge and join in the celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re shining a spotlight on one of our newest grantees, The World Wide Web Foundation, and their research project, “The Cost of Excluding Women: The Digital Gender Gap & Economic Prospects”. 

In collaboration with the Alliance for Affordable Internet, this project seeks to answer the question, “What is the economic impact of not having women participate in digital economies due to the digital gender gap?” In other words, what is the economic impact of women not having access to the Internet? 

Combining data provided by the  ITU, the Digital Gender Gaps Project, the World Bank and GSMA, this project will use a modelling exercise, focus groups, surveys, and stakeholder interviews to explore the economic consequences of ignoring the digital gender gap. We hope these efforts will provide a robust and actionable roadmap to inclusion and equity for women in the digital space and highlight the economic dangers of denying women access to the Internet. 

We are proud to support this important work from the World Wide Web Foundation and salute all women worldwide on International Women’s Day. 

The Internet is for everyone including women!

Want to learn more about our Research grant programme? Visit our website or send an email to [email protected]. 

Shayna Robinson is a Programme Officer with the Internet Society Foundation where she manages the Research, RARE (Resiliency and Responding to Emergencies), and BOLT (Building Opportunities & Leveraging Technology) Programmes.