Click, With a Woman’s Touch

"Let's see mijitas (a Colombian colloquial expression)… What is it, they killed the tiger and got scared with the leather", thus, with her marked paisa accent and laughing, Paula Andrea Gaviria speaks, when she thinks of advice for those women who still feel fear in front of the technology.

This cheerful, happy, entrepreneurial professional and digital consultant, passionate, as she says, for strategy, lover of books and letters, passionate about teaching, and with more than 20 years of experience in aspects related to marketing and technology, motivates women to break that fear, get out of the comfort zone and see on the screens of the devices, their true allies to generate much more than communication.

Currently, and from a gender perspective, access to ICT is much more evident, because, although there is still a gap, the barriers have been reduced, depending on access to these tools. For her, “there is no formula to integrate ICTs into the daily lives of women. As active consumers of the media we have made ICT part of our life”.

Paula Gaviria defines women as heroines and wise men, because they have the value of life and of bringing life to everything they do. “We are architects of destiny, invaluable axes in the family and a fundamental piece of society. Women entrepreneurs have the role of transforming strategies into realities, to generate a better country”.

The daily use of the cell phone, the Internet and communications is a habit that is within the routine and culture. The idea is that everything becomes more practical through technological solutions on a day-to-day basis.

"We are always looking for new options and tools to make our day to day simple, and yes, technology makes it easy, we integrate it all at once", comments Paula Gaviria.

And the digital divide?

It is an aspect that limits the use of technology, not only because of access conditions, but also because of social and economic factors, which mark strong differences between those who can connect and who cannot. The educational level, knowledge of the subject and geographical conditions also influence. Currently, according to the technology expert, "we are at 70 percent penetration, that is, 30 percent do not access digital connectivity."

In clicks

According to the Survey on access, use and appropriation of ICT by women in Colombia, carried out by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC), in 2018, 81% of women used the Internet, and approximately one 90 percent had a cell phone, while 72 percent used smartphones. Regarding social networks and technological platforms, WhatsApp represents 93 percent use; Facebook, 90 percent and YouTube, 74 percent.

This survey, focused on the use and appropriation that women make of ICTs, was the first to be carried out in Colombia and it also showed that 7 out of every 1,000 women began to be motivated by the development of technologies, in the creation of tools and technological trends. 

Also read: The algorithms of social networks modify our reality

The Ministry of ICT (MinTIC) in Colombia, leads the program Por TIC Mujer, which seeks to empower this sector of society, in the face of technologies, and this it does, through entrepreneurship, in order that the Colombian women enhance the use of ICTs to improve their quality of life. Thus, in 2019 1,500 women and 170 organizations benefited from this initiative, thus demonstrating the importance that government entities and social organizations promote empowerment strategies with access to technologies. "It's like being aware of our natural power," adds Paula Gaviria, who does not hesitate for a moment to recognize the power that women have in this area. "We women are and we do magic, and from ICT, we could do much more from the social and technological aspects", this explains how much information could be accessed that leads us to turn projects into realities ".

Humanize technology

The humanization of technology has to do with its use, understanding its practicality and what is needed on a day-to-day basis to make it more relevant, and thus give it more value; because technology does not move by itself, it is not good or bad, by itself.

The power of technology has to do with those dynamics that provide answers and solutions, based on the use and adaptation that is made of these. That is, depending on what is at the service of women to be and make life more viable and optimize their various activities.

In this order of ideas, "there is a humanization since we do not see them as something other than what we need to do, but, as an enabler of all the beautiful things that we can do to share with ours", it is very simple, it is about conceiving them from practicality and not from complexity. And ask yourself: What use does it have and how does it help me?

I like more … Less prevention

With a strong and convincing tone, Paula Gaviria says that "women are too bratty, we bring people into the world, we are capable of intervening in judgments, choices, selections, purchasing and consumption habits, we lead households, we move forward" … So, for her, the Technology is simple compared to all the challenges that are solved on a daily basis.

This digital entrepreneur, who is also a member of the El Café del Mundo channel, recommends that women tighten their pants, because “they have been wearing them for a long time for other things… Face technology as an enabler, because you have a lot of power, and make technology a dynamic that makes them happy and makes life easier”.

In networks – Paula Gaviria

Twitter: @pgaviriaa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pgaviria

Website: https://paulagaviria.com/