In early 2018, the United States Agency for International Development will issue an open call for proposals for innovative ideas to bridge the “gender digital divide,” or gender inequalities caused by barriers such as network coverage, online security, cost, and technical literacy.

The initiative is one of several announcements the agency made at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India’s tech capital last week, all aimed at empowering women.

Improving women’s access to technology “hits all sectors … the data and research and our empirical knowledge shows that, especially for women entrepreneurs and women’s economic development, it’s a game changer,” said Michelle Bekkering, USAID’s senior coordinator for gender equality and women’s empowerment, of the agency’s $1.5 million commitment to the challenge. “If you have a mobile phone, you can be in a village in West Bengal, but you can have access to your own money and you can do e-commerce. It opens the world to you.”

Read the full article about USAID's gender-focused programs by Kelli Rogers at Devex International Development.