On April 25th, Haiti celebrated the 8th International Girls in ICT Day, an event supported by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that is designed to encourage young girls and women to increase their knowledge of technology in order to reap the benefits of the great digital revolution and reduce gender gap in the industry. An event organized in Port-au-Prince by the recently formed Haitian Women and ITC association with support from the US Embassy in Haiti, highlighted the necessity for young women to embrace ITC and develop their capacity so that they, too, can seize the many opportunities that exist in the sector, thereby contributing to their personal development and growing the economy.
In the study conducted by Safitek Research on the use of mobile technology in the Port-au-Prince region, women have shown they are not being left out by men when it comes to using mobile technology. The survey revealed that 64% of women surveyed own a smart phone, compared to 67% of men. This number jumps to 72% for young women aged between 15 and 34, versus 73% for young men in that same age bracket. We also did not find remarkable differences between young men and women when it came to owning a computer or laptop, accessing the Internet either directly or through available wifi networks.
However, for the total surveyed population, when it comes to owning a laptop computer or tablet, only 31% of women answered “Yes”, compared to 42% of men.
While our survey focused on the use of mobile technology, its general conclusion was that Haitian consumers and women in particular, have sufficient knowledge to seize more opportunities and use mobile services as they develop. ITC inclusion for young women will improve as key decision-makers get together to tackle the challenges facing the development of the industry as a whole. Click below to see our full survey report and explore our interactive dashboards.
