ICTs as Infrastructure- Explorations through a Gendered Prism

Anita Gurumurthy participated in a panel arranged by UN Women on Gender and Infrastructure during the 8th Annual Conference on Public Policy and Management organized by the Center for Public Policy, at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore in August 13, 2013. She made a presentation on 'ICTs as Infrastructure- Explorations through a gendered prism'. Her presentation critically examined the techno-infrastructural regime in the hyper-globalised world we inhabit, where the mainstream discourse on ICTs has led to the uncritical acceptance of the  monopoly of private stakeholders over technology infrastructures as inevitable, even as it pays lip service to the rhetoric of 'universal access to ICTs'. In conclusion, she urged for the need to evolve a counter-discourse that focuses on the potential of ICTs for furthering gender justice concerns in a meaningful manner, rooted in the recognition of  ICTs as 'foundational capabilities'.