Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Arctic women’s ICT assessment for the Polar Year  (AWITA)

Outline
The UN Secretary General has emphasized that the new information and communications technologies are among the driving forces of globalization and that unprecedented new tools for development are brought by these technologies. But uneven distribution widens the gaps between the world’s “haves” and “have-nots”. The concept of “The Digital Divide” catches the different facets of this uneven distribution; urban/rural, income level and gender differences being three such facets. The north/south divide is frequently addressed. “Northern” countries are indeed better off than those of the south, yet, this polarization hides the fact that the Arctic regions hardly are well covered by ICT’s, especially not the rural areas and those primarily inhabited by Indigenous populations. The gender divide reoccurs in north as well as south. As consequence of women’s importance for sustainable development, women’s access to ICT is a concern for the future Arctic development. The subject of AWITA is Arctic women’s access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The concept “access” is understood as many dimensional and comprising women’s access as end users of existing systems, as well as access to participation in building the future Arctic ICT networks as developers and decision makers. AWITA is thus organised in three parallel tracks: ACCESS, EDUCATION, and LEADERSHIP. Research, education and outreach/communication will be included in each track. Methods, results and experience from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), www.wsis.org, will be used. A substantial gender sensitive investigation of ICT ACCESS in the Arctic will be carried out, organized as 30 coordinated graduate student projects (method chosen in order to make the results internationally comparable); In EDUCATION seminars will gather Arctic based experts in promoting girls’ and women’s participation in ICT education, to compare and evaluate methods and results. LEADERSHIP will develop and provide a multi lingual material on role models. Through this process a platform for comparing the conditions and visions for/among women leaders in the Arctic will be provided. Also, a graduate student course in Internet Governance will be arranged for students at Arctic universities. Experts active in the WSIS process will participate, including a member of the Working Group on Internet Governance, Avri Doria; and Lucky Sherpa, Chair of the Himalayan Indigenous Women Network and official representative of the Indigenous peoples in the WSIS. A common report will be published after the activities are concluded.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
AWITA will provide key information for the understanding of Arctic societies of today and the prospects of their sustainable development. Gender sensitive knowledge on how ICT access is distributed in the Arctic: Arctic and gender dimensions of the digital divide, Internet governance and leadership in a global context. Knowledge on processes of change and of future prospects of the Arctic, related to the global development; local Arctic adaptation to globalization. Substantial training and capacity building among young researchers and local leaders to address the challenges and potentials offered by the Information Society to the Arctic regions.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
AWITA is lead by a multi national team of researchers and professionals in Sweden, Finland, Greenland and USA. Students from several Arctic countries will meet and work together. Additionally, experts from non Arctic countries are involved. Coordination with The Arctic Council’s activities on ICT.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Given the theme, the project will take place in populated locations. At the initial stage we aim for the Arctic areas as defined by The Arctic Council. In the planning process, a more precise location plan will develop, depending on the partnerships we will reach at. Rural areas and sparsely populated areas will be highlighted, including the conditions of nomadic/semi nomadic peoples.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/07 – 06/08            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
AWITA will not put advanced requirements on logistic support/facilities. The needs will mostly be met by existing infra structure and transport systems. Helicopters and small aeroplanes will be used to a certain extent. Probably this can be arranged via local transportation companies.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Commercial operator
Other sources of support

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
We are yet at an initial stage of planning. The plan is to contact national agencies and governments as the process continues.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes
The project is an autonomous proposal but the aim is to connect to activities within the Arctic Council, and also to bring networks and experience from the WSIS into the project. WSIS will at the time be ended, but the implementation process will be at hand.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Main responsibility for each AWITA track will be located to each one office, overall coordination to one. Most offices will be situated in universities, out of which at least two are located in the Arctic; also local government offices may be host (Greenland). Preliminary, ACCESS will be lead by Carolyn Cunningham, USA and LEADERSHIP by Anna Heilmann, Greenland; EDUCATION will be lead from Oulu University, Finland and coordination and graduate course in Internet Governance from Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
AWITA contains substantial education and communication. The produced material and final report will be distributed. Local as well as international media will be invited to follow the process and take part in the results. Information about the IPY scope will be included in information and education.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
In this matter, we are grateful for suggestions from the secretariat.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
National and regional funding will be applied for by key project members in Finland, Sweden, USA, and Greenland/Denmark.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Capacity building among women is one of the goals. However, it is important to involve both women and men. We estimation that 70% of the project participants will be women (including students, local partners, seminar audiences etc). At least fifty Arctic graduate students will receive education in international settings, and approximately five Arctic graduate students will receive scholarships during the project.

PROPOSER DETAILS

PhD, researcher Maria Udén
Luleå University of Technology
Dpt of Human Work Sciences
Luleå University of Technology, Luleå
97183
Sweden

Tel: +46-920-493023
Mobile: +46-70-5334978
Fax:
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information