The times, they´re changing!

What excites me more about Web 2.0?

More than the innovative devices, tools and solutions that can change anyone´s daily life and at work, more than the multiple functionalities that several tools can provide, I get more excited by the range of access towards people (one would never meet personally otherwise), the possibility of exchanging and gathering ideas, efforts and passion, of being able to move, almost at a blink´s eye...

In short, what excites more is about access and sharing: information, citizenship, empowerment.

Are there new solutions and new barriers involved? Surely.
Just to name one barrier, persons with disabilities (who are blind, deaf, have low vision, color blindness, motor or cognitive impairments) and elders (seniors) are still pretty much excluded from a vast online content worldwide, including online learning, because websites and CMS – Content Management Systems are not designed with acessibility guidelines and requirements in mind.
Regarding such citizens, no matter their socio-economical status, there are improvements and (political, technical, cultural) solutions yet to be built.
So when I think of what Web 2.0 brings to the global women's empowerment movement, I am quickly reminded of the power its tools may bring to people yet not entirely autonomous (e.g. who are in wheel chairs, bedridden, blind, deaf, illiterate...), specially women and young people.

Decades ago, digital inclusion meant only hardware and basic training. Later on the concept evolved to what you do online and the personal and collective results and outcomes.
Even nowadays, access itself (hardware, software, internet connection) is not free, open and/or easy for everybody. Yes, we have come a long way; however, much is yet to be done.

What the Web 2.0 brings to the global women's empowerment movement?
New ways and new tools for interacting, building and sharing content, actions, results, focusing on human rights and needs.

I get moved and inspired by all those examples of battle for human rights, underprivileged people, collective efective low-cost solutions – based on ICT and the internet. Such widespread knowledge is web-based. Great!

My current advocacy is also focused on persons with disabilities´ rights in the web and with ICT - Info and Communication Technologies. These rights are not only gender-based but encopassess underprivileged, illiterate, disenfranchised people – women as well.

I see all this with excited eyes and a personal feeling of being in a engaging collective journey:
How all of this can change our lives and other people´s lives the way we intend to?

[Ana Isabel Paraguay - from Brazil / fairchange@gmail.com ]