Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration
In the OIC Member Countries
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inclusion and improve the employability profile of women. According to Hilding-Hamann et al.
(2009), the following best practices in this kind of programs have been identified:• All instructors should be females with experience in teaching computer skills; students
appreciate the notion of “women teaching women”, addressing not only a skills gap but
providing a remedy to unequal opportunities in the workplace,
• Additionally, the instructors could be unemployed women with prior computer
experience; as a result, the program could also become a vehicle for reintegrating
unemployed women in the workforce,
• Include a mentoring process in the program, which is based on younger peers or
attendees to prior sessions,
• Advertise programs in order to promote enrollment at places such as nurseries,
schools, playgrounds, and markets,
• Alternatively, kindergartens and schools could become places for recruiting program
participants,
• Provide flexibility in course delivery to allow for occasional absences,
• Structure lessons as “learner-centric” rather than “curriculum-centric”, building the
program around what attendees say they want to learn (e.g. use online search of job
opportunities),
• Consider partnering in delivery of the program with associations or non-governmental
organizations focused on advancing women welfare and/or enhancing the social
inclusion of women by means of technology,
• If focusing on women belonging to a specific ethnic group, tailor the material to be
delivered in suitable language, and customize it to the cultural idiosyncrasies of the
targeted group, and
• In some cases, it could be very productive to involve the whole family in learning ICT
skills in order to motivate mothers to participate.
This chapter presented information on global trends regarding broadband supply and demand.
It illustrated the concepts of supply and demand gap by reviewing industry trends at a global
level and then highlighting the gaps in broadband adoption. It also identified three best
practices in non-OIC developing countries (Brazil, Philippines, and Uruguay) as approaches
that would allow tackling some of the principal broadband adoption barriers faced by the OIC
Member Countries.