Official project title: Women entrepreneurship, gender and frugal innovation
Project leader: Saskia Vossenberg, PhD Researcher CFIA
Duration: 2015 - ongoing
This PhD research examines how inclusive innovations tailored to support women’s businesses through the use of ICT affect and benefit female entrepreneurs. Departing from feminist economic thinking it specifically addresses the gap in analysis between the significance of gendered structures in socio-economic contexts in which entrepreneurs operate and understanding how outcomes of innovation in general affect lives and businesses in Africa. Saskia Vossenberg is executing this project at the ISS.
ICT based innnovations
Examples of the ICT based inclusive innovations studies are mobile banking services, mobile business advisory services, online investment match-making schemes, online business networks and online market places. Frugal Innovations may play an important role within this research seeing that a significant part of the ICT based initiatives in Africa result from product and service development in a resource constrained environment.
Gendered perceptions
Saskia Vossenberg is particularly interested in understanding changes at the level of the household, marriage and the business, leading her to the question “How can inclusive innovations affect perceptions about gendered routines, work divisions, time allocation, mobility, decision-making authority and the provision of emotional and practical support?”
Photo - CreativeCommons: Ken Banks, kiwanja.net
