CyberSenso

"...and suddenly a whole new world opens itself up to me…"

CyberSenso is a series of initiatives to raise awareness about IT and ICT among women. The aim of these initiatives, which are set in a number of different contexts, is to overcome the lack of women in IT jobs by giving women the access, the tools and/or the knowledge to facilitate their ’eInclusion’.

Everyday technologies, technology of everyday society
If it’s important to promote women in the world of technology, it’s also important to promote technology among women. Women often associate the computer with leisure-time activities and don’t always realize how technology is used in their day-to-day lives : voting, managing accounts, data processing by their health insurance company, by government organizations, at the till at the end of their supermarket-shop, and so on. Whether we’re interested in IT or not, it is an integral part of our day-to-day life.

CyberSenso works on two different levels
Firstly, ADA provides personalized logistical and technical support to associations who request it. The support and follow-up of the project within this framework entail training the teams working within these associations to allow them to become autonomous in handling new technologies. Within this framework, ADA has set up and configured IT rooms, set up networks and arranged PC support, and has provided support in developing websites. This allows associations to diversify their activities and offer their participants an opening into ICT.

Secondly, there are IT awareness and initiation modules for women, within and outside the support environments we provide. More than 700 women have been trained in this way every year, in aspects ranging from office automation and website design to PC hardware and basic web navigation.

The CyberSenso activities enable the ADA network to go and find original/newXXX partners, and to work alongside a wide range of groups and associations towards a degree of autonomy for women within ICT : multicultural associations, women’s and/or neighbourhood associations, women looking for work, school environments, intergenerational activities, trade fairs, literacy classes, and so on. ADA has even invited female politicians to take part in office automation training specially tailored to their needs… Success guaranteed.

The CyberSenso activities are furthermore developed and run by women who are either training or are looking for employment having finished their IT training. By taking part in these activities they can increase their skills and their knowledge about IT services and jobs by using what they have learnt with the users. The CyberSenso activities therefore have a double impact : they enable some women to discover ICT and learn to use it, whilst giving others the opportunity to increase their expertise in the field.