Women must be technologically sound to tame entrepreneurship

Multifaceted use of information and communication technology has made life easier. On the other hand, it has created a source of income. The number of women entrepreneurs has increased due to online shopping. When women move forward, Bangladesh moves forward. Women in today's society are not confined within the circle of the past. Breaking the chains imposed by the social system, they are now moving forward with confidence.

Therefore, women are not only at home, they are engaged in all such activities, showing their confidence and strong spirit and moving forward in the path of progress - it is not only the progress of women, but the economy of the country is becoming stronger.

Now women have learned how to overcome various obstacles with bold steps. Thousands of students complete their graduation from various colleges and universities in our country every year. As the job market in the country is very limited and the unemployment rate is high, they are getting frustrated to secure a job. A large proportion of these job aspirants are women who have innovative power, self-confidence and a strong desire to establish themselves in life. Therefore, if they can be established as entrepreneurs, the country's unemployment problem will be solved, and these women will be considered as resources for themselves, their families, society and the country. They will be able to play an effective role in the country's economic growth.

On and on, women are becoming independent entrepreneurs by their own efforts. Many women entrepreneurs have now emerged using online platforms. It appears that women who are starting out as entrepreneurs are doing well. Even one and a half decades ago, retail and wholesale businesses were dominated by men. Women's participation was minimal. But the situation has changed now. Along with the participation of women in this sector, the economy is also increasing through them. Apart from making their own position in the national economy, women entrepreneurs are also contributing abroad. In the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics-BBS survey, the number of women in retail and wholesale businesses was 21 thousand 867 in the financial year 2002-03, 89 thousand 848 in 2009-10 and 2 lakh 3 thousand 191 in 2021, that is, in a decade, women entrepreneurs have increased more than twice.

It is quite convenient to promote products online. Business management costs are reduced if anyone can buy and sell products online. Increasing the participation of women entrepreneurs in selling products online will have a positive impact on the economy. Entrepreneurship helps women to contribute a lot to society. It proactively helps them to address social challenges as well as empower them to grow their business alongside facing challenges. Research shows that economic independence creates opportunity of empowerment for women.

Women entrepreneurs still face many challenges. Everyone's cooperation is needed to ensure benefits of incentives, collateral free loans etc. for women entrepreneurs. Government should take various initiatives to encourage women entrepreneurs to promote their business online. In this case, the private sector can also play a vital role.

However, if a woman wants to enter this profession, at least she must have a good understanding of a few things on technology. Fear to technology becomes a barrier to learning about technology. To overcome this fear, measures should be taken to familiarize children with technology from school. All women entrepreneurs should be brought under the purview of skill development. Free quality training should be provided by the government. They also need to be brought into the digital platform. Providing ICT training to women and creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs to sell their products and services on online platforms, women can achieve self-reliance by earning from home. But both buyers and sellers should be careful of dishonest traders. Statistics show that people are victims of fraud in online business. This is having a negative impact on those who are honest traders.

Moreover, it is not possible to establish equality between men and women in the modern world without technology. Therefore, opportunities for women should be increased in technology. It is necessary to reach technology to women in order to cope up with the modern world. For that purpose, the language of technology should be simple. Availability of devices should be increased. Internet costs should be reduced. Women should also be protected from online violence that is increasing with the development of technology.

The writer is a journalist, working with Risingbd.com