IWWAGE
Study on usage of smartphones by frontline workers and its impact
Goal
To explore how smartphones impact women frontline workers’ professional roles and enhance their digital literacy and empowerment by providing them with the tools and skills needed to access information, strengthen social networks, and increase their personal and professional agency.
Target
A sample survey of 2,500 women frontline workers (FLWs) across five Indian states, with 500 FLWs each in every state selected through convenience sampling.
Approach
- A mixed-methods approach will be adopted for the study
- Geographies will include areas which have distributed smartphones to the women FLWs, including Anganwadi workers, ASHAs, ANMs, Bank Sakhis, Pashu Sakhis, etc., mostly efficient implementation and monitoring of various government programmes & services
- Landscaping and knowledge creation through literature review and key informant interviews (KIIs) of government officials across 5 states
- Quantitative survey of FLWs to assess smartphone ownership patterns, purpose for usage beyond service delivery, impact on empowerment, and challenges
- In-depth qualitative interviews with a subset of FLWs will be conducted to understand socio-economic enablers and barriers of using smartphones
Impact
- Creating gender-sensitive guidelines and support systems regarding technology usage for women FLWs
- The study can inform training programmes tailored to female frontline workers’ smartphone use
- Identifying digital literacy gaps can lead to initiatives that improve the usage of technology by women FLWs and, thereby, improve their empowerment
Geographies
States: Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Karnataka
Focus Areas
Digital access and usage Digital skills