ADVANCING GENDER EQUITY THROUGH ICTS: 
CREATING A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR IMPACT 

Vision: By focusing on the contributions of both women and technologies in the global economy, ignite new initiatives and strengthen current efforts around the world to measurably increase economic, social, and educational opportunities for women and girls in the knowledge society by 2011. 

Strategy: Establish a Global Framework which consists of 10 Regional Centers for women and technology and a coordinating Global Hub that will amplify the impact of the collective intelligence around the world on behalf of women and girls in the four key focus areas: 
1. Secondary and tertiary education; 
2. Workforce development; 
3. Entrepreneurship; and 
4. Leadership. 

Background: This action plan was developed over two years by leading experts representing all the multi-stakeholder group who in 2006 organized to form the International Taskforce on Women and ICTs (ITF). Over time, they mutually recognized the need to create a bold strategy to create critically needed global change to ensure the achievement of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals and related stakeholder goals in every region of the world. 

Team: The ITF are seasoned professionals representing expertise in women and technology development from business, government, academia, and non-profit sectors representing every region of the world. 

Tools for Impact: All Centers and the Global Hub will use a common, but customized set of five tools for sustainable impact: 
1. Policy and action; 
2. Global and regional research, baselines, and impact metrics; 
3. Resource and service development; 
4. Dissemination and communication; 
5. Integration of regional context and culture. 

Target Areas for Development for Women and Girls: 
1. Increased access and connectivity; 
2. Improved ICT literacy, fluency, and usability skills; 
3. Full participation in the development and design of ICT hardware, software, and content; 
4. Increasing presence and leadership in all aspects of ICT, including policy and decision making, regulation, program development, and the workforce. 

Value Added: 
A global and regional one-stop resource for the following benefits: 
1. An improved knowledge-base on how best to attract, educate, train, and retain girls and women in the workplace using culturally-appropriate approaches; 
2. Increased innovation levels in each region through women’s increased engagement; 
3. Regional point of contact (POC) for understanding the diverse national and regional marketplace for women and technology as it changes and new markets emerge; 
4. A regional POC for new and growing alliances, partnerships, and strategic networks; 
5. A collaborative team to amplify current local and national efforts internationally and develop 
efforts to fill gaps. 

Capital Expenditures: The proposed budget of $10.5 million (U.S.) over three years includes the establishment of an operational Global Framework, which includes a lean global coordinating hub and 10 Regional Centers by 2011. 


CLARIFYING THE FRAMEWORK 

Regional Hubs or Centers will bring together the expertise of the region focusing on the intersection between women and technology, including information and communication technology (ICT) and engineering. The Center may also develop expertise in science, mathematics, and other areas of technology to achieve its goals and where core issues overlap. The expertise will target areas of women’s development in education, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and leadership specific to technology and related fields. 

Regional Centers will connect to National Affiliates that in turn will connect to local programs. These programs may be funded by public and/or private funding. The regional center will be owned and operated by the multi-stakeholders who establish and support it, ensuring that a change in governments or variations in organizational priorities does not affect the operations of the Centers. Further, the Global Framework allows the experts to determine the direction and needs of the Centers to ensure the goals of the center are achieved and sustained. 

Why create Regional Centres rather than just having National Affiliates? 

1. Bring regional expertise connecting women and technology to developing regions where little or none exists, including training, mentoring, research-based knowledge, coaching, e-services, and other models. 
2. Identify and vet program leadership to ensure knowledge and resources are in place to measure impact and promote sustainability. 
3. Have a regional partner to ensure funding and resources are used with fiscal responsibility. 
4. Provide train-the-trainer workshops on building and sustaining a successful NGO specific to the needs of women and technology in each country. 
5. Connect effective practices within and across regions to developing countries for cost-effective, customizable implementation. 
6. Provide technical expertise for women’s programs that have limited or no technical expertise. 
7. Develop rapport with multi-stakeholder model in regions where this model is new and current 
stakeholders are cautious. 
8. Ensure new projects do not supplant current effective programs. 
9. Provide regional multi-stakeholder support so that single-source support does not lead to program closure. 
10. Provide a level playing field for small NGOs serving women and technology with multinational businesses and national governments to ensure the best outcomes for all. 

Why a Global Coordinating Hub? 

1. Engage and influence stakeholder leadership at the highest levels for consistent strategies and increased global impact. 
2. Institutionalize ITF model of multi-stakeholder global collaboration for developing and 
developed regions to ensure Centers of Excellence are established in each region for measurable impact on region specific goals. 
3. Connect and roll out effective practices across regions. 
4. Lift local issues to global discussion forums and move global policies for impact to the grassroots level. 
5. Provide unbiased coordination, collaboration, and conflict resolution for the regions and across regions that inevitably arise when there are scarce resources. 
6. Provide staff and resources for regions that need extra support and guidance during development. 
7. Bring cross regional and global innovation to the discussion for new solutions to age-old 
challenges. 

How will the Regional Centers be sustained? 
The regional centers are not-for profit entities that support economic development. From the Global Framework, ideas will emerge (and are already emerging) among entrepreneurs, educators, research universities, the private sector, and government agencies that see value in the broad and wide reaching network. Intellectual property that is developed to fill identified gaps or new programs that spin off can generate revenue, which will support the work of the ITF. New products that are developed can be licensed or sold to create value. Access to the network itself also has intrinsic value that can serve to promote funding. Thus the Regional Centers will serve as a focal point for innovation that will in five years sustain the work of the Centers themselves. 

Timeline and Target Objectives: 

12-14 June 2005	Baltimore: Initial meeting with a focus on creating a global network
15-18 November 2006	Paris: Formation meeting at UNESCO for knowledge sharing among the ITF  network
9-10 December 2007	Kuala Lumpur: Action meeting – Adopting the Action Agenda
8 January 2008	Meeting at the World Bank to present framework as part of the Clinton Global  Initiative
14-15 January 2008	Presentations to leadership at the U.S. headquarters of Dell, Freescale, Texas  Instruments, Exxon, and Nokia
17 January 2008	Presentation to the Gender Unit of the Inter American Development Bank
6-7 March 2008	European Commission conference and stakeholder meeting
March 2008	Asia Pacific Regional Stakeholder Meeting
29 March – 4 April ‘08	Meeting with thought leaders in Doha and Dubai on ITF strategy
July 2008	Meeting of the European Centre for Women and Technology
November 2008	Launch of Middle East Centre for Women and ICT
December 10- 12 2008	Establish Global Hub and first three Regional Centers
2009	Establish next four Regional Centers
2010	Establish final three Regional Centers