AYITIC Goes Global

The AYITIC team is working to derive lessons about how to successfully raise women out of poverty through online employment in complex settings such as Haiti. This involves studying which factors lead to successful training completion and employment, looking at both characteristics from beneficiary groups as well as pedaegogical strategies employed to understand what works best.

At its core, this project entails research into exactly what types of jobs could exist for young Haitian women in this new digital economy, what demand there is for them, and whether they will last rather than being replaced by artificial intelligence over time. Project design and execution is based on applied social research. Conducted from April to November 2017, this phase involved: (i) studying characteristics of potential beneficiary groups and contextual factors that may affect trainings and employment, including connectivity challenges; (ii) mapping market opportunities and job profiles where there is potential for sustainable employment; and (ii) identifying pedaegogical strategies to train the women. École Supérieure d'Infotronique d'Haïti (ESIH), The Caribbean Open Institute, 3x3 Design, and The SlashRoots Foundation carried out in-depth interviews with representatives of the Haitian ICT sector and the North American service outsourcing industry, a case study of online ICT training programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 2 online surveys among members of the service outsourcing industry, potential students, and organisations that are part of the Haitian internet ecosystem. Based on this information and its analysis, 3 reports were prepared; visit the AYITIC Goes Global website to access them.

The programme evaluation also seeks to understand how the initiative may be replicated in other Latin American countries, as one of the project's objectives is establishing partnerships for scaling. Project partners are in advanced negotiations with a major technology company to study the possibility of replicating the initiative beyond Haiti in other countries of Central America and the Caribbean.

AYITIC Goes Global is: designing, piloting, and evaluating locally adapted online courses to enhance the technical skills of young Haitians; coaching programme graduates to seek employment online and design career paths that capitalise on the digital skills developed through the programme; and strengthening the skills of IT professionals in Haiti. Efforts are also being made through project to further strengthen Haiti's telecommunications infrastructure by working with the local technical community. Specific components include:

1. Trainings for women. The project is training 300 women, mostly those from low- and lower income households, using an e-learning platform to develop data-related digital skills. The free, 12-week online courses focus on the development of the following skills: data entry, management and analysis; social media management; SEO (search engine optimisation) and overall use of productivity tools for digital workers. During the course of the initiative, 3 rounds of training are being carried out: May - August 2018 / October 2018 - January 2019 / March - June 2019.
2. Employability. Haiti's economy is small, and job opportunities are scarce. Digital online jobs offer unique opportunities to overcome this bottleneck. Furthermore, returns to education are particularly high in ICT-intensive jobs, and IT outsourcing offers concrete opportunities for remote employment. As such, the programme works with trained women, assisting them in applying for work through online platforms and supporting continued professional skills development.
3. Internet development. To enable the growth of an online market for digital and data-related services in Haiti, the project is working to strengthen local capacities by training IT professionals and to encourage concrete improvements to connectivity through an ICT Cluster.

AYITIC Goes Global stems from a prior initiative led by LACNIC that ran from 2013 through 2016. The project originally focused on strengthening internet infrastructure by training local technicians. Three editions were organised, and a total of 289 individuals received training on topics such as network management, security, wireless technology, and IPv6 deployment. Visit the AYTIC website (then click on "prior editions" and then finally on "2016" and/or "2014" and/or "2013") for details.

Women, Employment, Economic Development, Technology

According the IDRC, Haiti is currently the economically poorest country in the western hemisphere, with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% living in abject poverty. Unemployment, at 40%, is the highest in the region, and the 2010 earthquake further inflicted US$7.8 billion in damage, causing many survivors to flee the country to find work elsewhere, especially if they were highly trained. Only 13-15% of Haitians have access to the internet. Despite that, about 55% of Haitians have smartphones, but many aren't continuously connected to the internet because it's too expensive or not available. Nevertheless, young Haitians are adept at using the phones and the internet when they can.

The AYITIC team points to one aspect of the project that may raise questions: the project is training women for low-complexity jobs, and these types of remote jobs are often associated with varying degrees of job insecurity. AYITIC sees the courses and the microwork as a first step into a longer career path. In addition, the programme is helping women become digital citizens; their newly found digital literacy becomes an lifelong asset, and digital skills learned can be further developed, especially if they see it leads them to concrete employment opportunities.