WIGSAT is a consulting group which promotes innovation, science and technology strategies that enable women, especially those living in developing countries, to actively participate in technology and innovation for development. Women should be able to benefit from the advantages of technological development equally with men, including access to and use of technologies and full participation in innovation systems.

If they don't, society will be deprived of their creativity, perspective and experience, and women will not be able to play a role in designing, creating and developing the technology systems which affect their lives.

In our work we attempt to answer these questions:

• What are the preconditions for women to become full participants in science, technology and innovation?
• 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 effective for promoting women's participation?
How can a country mobilize all of its human resources to become a innovation and knowledge-based society?

It does this by providing analysis and research in three programme areas – Technology for Development, ICT for Development, and Science, Technology and Innovation Systems:

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.

Board members of the non-profit arm - Women in Global Science and Technology - are Ann Holmes, Canada; Judi Wakhungu, Kenya; and Kate Wild, Canada. They also serve on the Advisory Committee of WIGSAT Group, the consulting arm of the organization.




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.