WIGSAT is a consulting group with the guiding principle that women should have the opportunity to make full, active, informed and creative contributions to the science and technology-based knowledge society. They should be able to benefit from its advantages equally with men, including access to and use of technologies and full participation in innovation systems.

Its goal is to promote information, science and technology strategies which enable women, especially those living in developing countries, to contribute to and benefit from growth and development.

WIGSAT believes everyone will benefit if women engage with and actively contribute to ICT and science, technology and innovation systems. If they do not, society will be deprived of the creativity, perspective and experience of women, and women will not be able to play a role in designing, creating and developing the technology systems which affect every aspect of their lives.

In its work WIGSAT seeks to answer a series of key questions: What are the preconditions for women to become full participants in science, technology and innovation systems and information societies? What resources and access do they need to achieve this? Where, when and how fast are women making progress? What policies and programmes will be most conducive to promoting women's participation? How can a country mobilize its full human resource capacity to become a science, technology and knowledge-based society?

To address these questions, WIGSAT engages in analysis and research in three programme areas – Technology for Development, ICT for Development, and Science, Technology and Innovation Systems – with the following sub-programmes:

Technology for development:

• Statistics on access to smaller-scale technologies for poverty reduction


• Comparative analysis of technology for development (T4D) strategies


• The role of technology in product value chain development for poverty reduction


• Biotechnology-nanotechnology for poverty reduction


• Governance of T4D
  

ICT for development:

• Statistics and indicators on women in the information society


• Comparative analysis of information and communications technologies


• ICT-enabled and ICT-based women's enterprises


• Use of ICT to support women's agricultural production


• E-governance: enabling community participation in local and national decision making structures through ICTs

Science, technology and innovation:

• Statistics and indicators on women in science, technology and innovation systems


• Assessment of women's participation in the science, engineering and technology workforce (SET)


• Comparative analysis of strategies to integrate women into national innovation systems


• Analysis of the role and opportunities for women's technology-based small and medium entreprises in national innovation systems


• Strategies to support small, micro and medium business development based on S&T knowledge, technology and innovation systems.

Core personnel consist of Sophia Huyer, Executive Director; Marilyn Carr, Senior Associate (Technology for Development) and Nancy Hafkin, Senior Associate (ICT for Development). Additional consultants are associated on a project-by-project basis.

WIGSAT is on the Steering Committee of the International Task Force on Women and ICT (ITF). The Taskforce is a consortium of global leaders and practitioners formed to create synergy in efforts to increase women's full participation in ICTs: from engineering and software, to access and use, to literacy and leadership. The network promotes communication and information exchange; increased sharing of research, knowledge and resources; development of a series of collaborative activities; and promotion of recommendations for policy and programming.

WIGSAT hosts the ITF Expert Database.