Gender and E-Government

1
Gender and E-Government

• Katherine Reilly

2
Two Visions of the Internet

• Dominant
• Connectivity
• Digital divide
• Individuals

• Social/Alternative
• Use appropriation
• Social divide
• Organized groups

3
State CSO Relations

• E-government the use of ICTs by government to
  modernize the government
• E-governance the use of ICTs by government to
  manage the state (vertical relationship)
• E-democracy the use of ICTs by government to
  facilitate the participation of civil society in
  the management of the state (horizontal
  relationship)

4
National Digitalization

• Focus of e-government on updating existing
  administrative systems to facilitate e-services
• Focus of e-governance on meeting business demands
  in the area of e-commerce
• Universal access and education as facilitating
  factors
• E-democracy is not a main focus

5
Public Information

• Clarity providing information that helps
  citizens to understand and manoeuvre the
  bureaucracy. E-services and public image
  websites.
• Transparency providing information that allows
  citizens to judge the performance of the state.
  Accountability and sanctions.

6
ICTs and Policy

• ICT Policy
• Focus on ICTs
• Virtual world
• Regulating ICTs

• ICTs in Policy
• Focus on political processes / actors
• Real world
• ICTs impacts on policy processes

7
Gender and ICT Policy

• Womens Action Plan as part of National
  Digitalization Strategy (esp. legal reforms)
• E-services (ensuring womens access)
• Infrastructure and Connectivity
• Clear information for individual women
• Clustering (privacy / data matching)
• Financial System Reform (gender accounting)
• National ID Cards

8
Gender and ICTs in Policy

• Use and appropriation of public information and
  ICTs in gender agendas
• ICTs for a gender enabling policy environment
• Accountability and Transparency
• Citizen information systems versus managerial
  information systems
• Better State-CSO relations and e-democracy

9
Conclusion

• Recognizing that existing social divides need to
  be closed in order to close the gender digital
  divide, work on gender and e-government needs to
  focus on the roll of ICTs and public information
  in political and public policy agendas.

10
Thank you!

• Fundación Acceso www.acceso.or.cr
• Juliana Martínez Public Information for Public
  Policy Advocacy with support of IDRC
• INSTRAW-GAINS
• Katherine Reilly Katherine_at_Reilly.net