BY Prince Osuagwu

Multinational chip maker, Intel has declared that until the gap in access to basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) between men and women is bridged, the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may still be far away.

Driving its point home to Nigeria where its operations has blossomed over the years, it discovered that the gap has contributed to the failure of country to fully realize its potentials and become a major economic bloc in the African sub Region.

To provide a panacea, the company put together a three day technology and entrepreneurship training forum for the 21st century woman which held in Lagos at the weekend. The forum which was in conjunction with Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W-TEC) saw many notable speakers who proffered solutions on how the tech gap could be bridged.

In her remarks at the workshop, Executive Director, The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre, Oreoluwa Somolu noted  that “entrepreneurial forces are relatively strong in this country with women being at the hub of entrepreneurial activities.  The lack of jobs and the rise in poverty leave few other options for the average Nigerian more so the Nigerian woman. However there appears to be a critical role and place of technology in entrepreneurship towards the advancement of the nation, for which the woman plays a critical role.”

Somolu also stated that such an initiative with women empowerment as its focus is a welcome development and hailed Intel Corporation for throwing its weight behind the workshop. She added that for long issues bordering on women empowerment has been treated as trivial.

Also speaking at the workshop, Corporate Affairs Manager of Intel, Osagie Ogunbor noted that the initiative was borne out of the desire to stimulate interests in entrepreneurship as an approach to establish businesses that will strategically place women on a globally competitive level and ultimately reduce the increasing unemployment problem in Nigeria.

“Empowering women through information and communications technology has been considered as critical to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. The disparity between men and women in Nigeria with regard to access to basic ICT services has been a gross limitation to the country becoming a major economic bloc in the African sub-region and indeed the world.” He stated.

Ogunbor also noted that as women about to enter or already fully functional in the labour market, the possession of technical knowledge on its own would not suffice, but ownership of complementary life skills to deliver the highest possible value in any field of endeavor was the ultimate task.