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Digitalisation for Gender Equity – Challenges and opportunities faced by women on digital platforms

Tech For Good Institute (TFGI) participated in a panel, “Digitalisation for Gender Equity,” as part of the Asian Impact Webinar series organised by Asian Development Bank. The panel was broadcasted on March 21, 2023.

Top left to right: Rachel Teo, Head, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Singapore, Google; Thomas Abell, Chief, Digital Technology for Development Unit, Asian Development Bank; Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, Advisor, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, Asian Development Bank
Bottom left to right: Dr. Ming Tan, Executive Director of TFGI; Dr. Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, Professor, Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University

Moderator and panelists:

  • Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, Advisor, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, Asian Development Bank
  • Dr. Yana van der Meulen Rodgers, Professor, Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University
  • Dr. Ming Tan, Founding Executive Director, Tech for Good Institute
  • Rachel Teo, Head, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Singapore, Google
  • Thomas Abell, Chief, Digital Technology for Development Unit, Asian Development Bank

Key insights from the panel:

  • While digitalisation carries immense potential to disrupt gender gaps, women still face obstacles in the digital economy

Digital platforms are an important source of livelihood opportunity for both men and women, be it in terms of platform work, or as entrepreneurs running micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, gender gaps in platform work still persist, regardless of feedback scores, experience and educational attainment. Women entrepreneurs on online platforms face more difficulty in accessing financing. Some factors contributing to this gender divide include inequities in access to ICT infrastructure, caregiving constraints, digital literacy and skill gaps, technophobia and lack of information on benefits of or how to participate in online platforms. To better understand some of these variations in access faced by men and women, there is a critical need for collection of more granular, gender-disaggregated data.

  • Digital technologies can empower women in their roles as citizens, consumers, workers, and business owners

Digital technologies and the innovative business models that they enable can empower women in all aspects of their lives. Digitalisation of social protection using national digital identities can make access to benefits more inclusive, fair and equitable. Food delivery platforms such as GoFood, Foodpanda, Deliveroo and GrabFood create abundant business opportunities for women-owned MSMEs and also widen the range of choices available to consumers. Telehealth platforms like Intelehealth help to improve healthcare accessibility as well as livelihood opportunities for healthcare workers. Ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek not only provide job opportunities, but also help to further transport equity for drivers and passengers alike, by ensuring personal safety through technological innovations.

  • Deliberate, informed design choices and actions by platform companies can help create more inclusive digital ecosystems

Many platform companies recognise their responsibility to design inclusive and equitable products and services. Part of this entails promoting fairness and reducing bias in machine learning. One example of this is Google’s 2018 launch of a new development in Google Translate which addresses gender bias by providing feminine and masculine translations for some gender-neutral words.

  • An inclusive digital ecosystem requires collaborative action across industry, academia, civil society, and governments

To foster an accessible and inclusive digital ecosystem, we need to take a whole-of-society approach. On the industry front, platform companies have a role to play in investing in equipping women with digital skills, building inclusive products, and ensuring fairness and equity in hiring practices. Academia and civil society help to influence policy by providing research and expertise, as well as targeted investments to move the needle. Governments must also reexamine their policies to ensure that women are not being disproportionately burdened by unpaid care work or other barriers to their full participation in the digital economy.

 

Catch up on the event below.

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Mouna Aouri

Programme Fellow

Mouna Aouri is an Institute Fellow at the Tech For Good Institute. As a social entrepreneur, impact investor, and engineer, her experience spans over two decades in the MENA region, South East Asia, and Japan. She is founder of Woomentum, a Singapore-based platform dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs in APAC through skill development and access to growth capital through strategic collaborations with corporate entities, investors and government partners.

Dr Ming Tan

Founding Executive Director

Dr Ming Tan is founding Executive Director for the Tech for Good Institute, a non-profit founded to catalyse research and collaboration on social, economic and policy trends accelerated by the digital economy in Southeast Asia. She is concurrently a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore and Advisor to the Founder of the COMO Group, a Singaporean portfolio of lifestyle companies operating in 15 countries worldwide.  Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology, business and society, including sustainability and innovation.

 

Ming was previously Managing Director of IPOS International, part of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, which supports Singapore’s future growth as a global innovation hub for intellectual property creation, commercialisation and management. Prior to joining the public sector, she was Head of Stewardship of the COMO Group and the founding Executive Director of COMO Foundation, a grantmaker focused on gender equity that has served over 47 million women and girls since 2003.

 

As a company director, she lends brand and strategic guidance to several companies within the COMO Group. Ming also serves as a Council Member of the Council for Board Diversity, on the boards of COMO Foundation and Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC), and on the Digital and Technology Advisory Panel for Esplanade–Theatres on the Bay, Singapore’s national performing arts centre.

 

In the non-profit, educational and government spheres, Ming is a director of COMO Foundation and Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) and chairs the Asia Advisory board for Swiss hospitality business and management school EHL. She also serves on  the Council for Board Diversity and the Digital and Technology Advisory Panel for Esplanade–Theatres on the Bay, Singapore’s national performing arts centre.

 

Ming was educated in Singapore, the United States, and England. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and her doctorate from Oxford.