DIGITAL APPROPRIATION BY WOMEN MSME ENTREPRENEURS IN ODISHA: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4Ds) are potential tools for the growth of the world economy. Many enterprising individuals, firms, and communities deploy ICT4Ds to address the specific challenges faced by them with greater ingenuity and efficiency. However, despite providing vast, new and unprecedented opportunities for development, especially in sectors like business and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), ICT4Ds also contribute to social and economic disparities among individuals and groups. In scenarios wherein the power imbalances inherent in the digital revolution remain unchallenged, the use of ICT4Ds can accentuate the gender divide prevailing in societies. The social, economic, and cultural constraints faced by women worldwide limit the digital dividends that they can avail from ICT4D use. The current research attempts to arrive at an improved understanding of the challenges and opportunities that ICT4Ds constitute for the women MSME entrepreneurs. Through an exploration of the issues of access and use of ICT4Ds by the women MSME entrepreneurs, mobilization of ICT4Ds for the purpose of social capital formation amongst them, and a critical enquiry of the inter-linkages amongst gender, ICT4Ds, and society, the study challenges the often uncritical assumption that ICT4Ds always, inevitably lead to development. In so doing it examines the suitability of ICT4Ds to local conditions, and evaluates the human responses to information revolution. Such an analysis moves beyond a statistical enquiry of use of ICT4Ds, to understand what makes these digital technologies meaningful within specific contexts and settings.