Vital to bring women into the e-commerce world
TECHNOLOGY and a more connected world has played a significant role in highlighting the many disparities and discrimination that women face in the world, says Vodafone Fiji head of eCommerce and Digital Financial Services Shailendra Prasad.
Celebrating International Womens Day at the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation’s Fourth MultiDisciplinary Conference in Lautoka yesterday, he said technology and innovation had a more important role to play in creating a gender equal future.
“As we recognise and celebrate recognise and celebrate the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education,” he said.
“It is critical to identify the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities.
“Bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology driven economy will ensure creative and relevant solutions that will address the issues that these marginalised communities face every day.
“It is those who deal with these problems everyday can design the best solutions if given the opportunity.”
He said in today’s world of work, technology was not just an industry; it was an integral part of every industry.
“It shapes how we live our lives, grow our economies and connect as humans.”
He said women remained grossly under represented in the tech workforce, holding back progress in this day and age of innovation and digital transformation.
“As the world moves more into a digital economy, what does this mean for women?
“Are our women technological literate to take advantage of the opportunities that the new digital economy promises or is it going to create a bigger divide?
“These are important questions for our leaders to take into consideration and all those present here have a duty to make sure this becomes part of the mainstream agenda.
“We cannot, as a nation do well, if half of our population who are women are not included.
“Through a holistic and collective approach, where both the vision for change and the effort to achieve it are shared, we can start building a future that genuinely includes us all.”
ANZ