Answering the call: Putting the world in women’s hands

Once a luxury, a mobile phone is now critical to accessing the modern economy. Money is sent and received by phone, and information about government benefits is accessible at the touch of a button. Not surprisingly, mobile phone ownership in India has grown exponentially in the past decade. Yet while India continues to be a leading market for mobile technology, enjoying some of the lowest costs in the world for mobile data, women continue to be left behind, with a nationwide gap in mobile phone ownership of around 33 percentage points. This event will host leaders from policymaking, the private sector, think tanks and academia to converse upon female access to mobile technology in India. Moderated by veteran journalist Barkha Dutt, this event will include a presentation of findings from ongoing research by EPoD India at IFMR, which is a joint initiative of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) at Harvard Kennedy School and IFMR LEAD. The dialogue will offer an opportunity to delve into the dilemma of low female access to mobile technologies, review the latest research in this area, and discuss new ways to put the world in women’s hands.

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Participation at this event is by invitation only.

We will be live tweeting the discussion. Join us on @orfonline.

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Speakers

• Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog
• Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy (India, South & Central Asia), Facebook
• Rohini Pande, Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Samir Saran, Vice President, Observer Research Foundation

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 The timing of the event is from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.