Women ICT Frontier Initiative National Launch and Training

In an effort to strengthen the capacities of women entrepreneurs in Thailand, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Pattaya Municipality, and APCICT, in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities, the Research Center of Communication, and the Development Knowledge Management are co-organizing the Launch and Training on Women ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI) on 1-2 December 2022 in Pattaya Municipality Office.

Women’s entrepreneurship is a force for positive social transformation. The success of women entrepreneurs generates ripple effects such as increased household savings, investment in children’s health and education, job creation and significant increases in national GDP. While the Asia-Pacific region has closed some of the gender gaps in health and education, women tend to still be more excluded than men from economic opportunities, whether by restricted entry into the labor force, lower wages, the burden of unpaid domestic labor, vulnerability in dangerous occupations, or lower access to finance and credit. Women entrepreneurs also continue to face disadvantages resulting from their lack of access and capacity to use information and communication technologies. Information and communications technology (ICT) is an enabler for socio-economic development, participation and empowerment. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes ICT as valuable tools for facilitating the efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets. SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) has targets that address drivers of gender inequality and violence against women, and ensures their full and effective participation in society. It also has a specific target to “enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women” (SDG 5, target 5.b).

It is in this context that the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT for Development (APCICT), a regional institute of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), embarked on the programme called “Women ICT Frontier Initiative” (WIFI). The WIFI programme aims to promote women’s entrepreneurship in Asia and the Pacific through ICT capacity development. It will support women to become economically productive, through entrepreneurship that is enabled by ICT. In an effort to strengthen the capacities of women entrepreneurs in Thailand, in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management, Pattaya Municipality, the Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities and Thai Professional Qualification Institute (TPQI) are co-organizing the national Launch and Training on Women ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI) on 1-2 December 2022 in Pattaya Municipality Office.

Objectives

The training aims to:

• Introduce the WIFI programme and the importance of ICT capacity development to women entrepreneurs;
• Enhance understanding of the importance of women entrepreneurship and ICT capacity development;
• Increase stakeholder buy-in, strengthen engagement and ownership of WIFI national focal partners;
• Expand the pool of national resource persons who can deliver the WIFI modules to women entrepreneurs and policymakers; and
• Deliver the training content at community level to potential/current women entrepreneurs.

Resource Person

• CCDKM,STOU
• Ministry of Social Development and Human Security
• DEPA, MDES
• Microsoft Philanthropies Lead APAC, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited
• TPQI
• Red-Cross Nursing Institute

Target Participants

The WIFI Launch will be attended by the following:

• Representatives from relevant training institutions, women entrepreneurs and potential women entrepreneurs.

For information, please contact:

Ms. Nuankae Wongthawatchai, Programme Officer, APCICT/ESCAP, [email protected]