The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – La Union Provincial Statistical Office will conduct the Women and Information Communications Technology (ICT) Development Index (WIDI) survey, the first national survey on ICT focusing on women and girls in the country, on January 31 to February 26, 2022, in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). 

The WIDI is a commitment to the Asia Pacific Women's Information Network Center (APWINC) in 2019 that mandates the conduct of a national survey on women and ICT. It aims to gather baseline data on women and girls in terms of access, use, and skills in ICTs. It also aims to enrich the domain of women and ICT by establishing key indicators that will capture the situation of women focusing on aspects of the Digital Economy, ICT Access and ICT Usage that are affecting women the most. It hopes to provide a more in-depth study of women and ICTs, especially on documenting how ICTs are used to expand women’s social, economic, and livelihood opportunities. In addition, the survey aims to provide an added dimension in women’s participation in the Digital Economy by providing data on workforce participation in employment, livelihood, and entrepreneurship using ICTs and online digital platforms.

Overall, the objectives of the WIDI survey are: to obtain data on ICT access of women and girls; to indicate extent of ICT use for education, employment, livelihood, and entrepreneurship among women and girls in the past three months; and to obtain data that can be used for ICT planning and policy-making focused on women and girls.

In La Union, a total of 382 randomly selected households will be visited by the two hired Statistical Researchers (SRs) utilizing android tablets in data collection to significantly reduce time for data processing.

In light of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the hired SRs will strictly abide with the health and safety protocols such as observance of social distancing, wearing of facemask, and proper hygiene and sanitation at all phases of field operation.

The PSA enjoins the public to support the WIDI survey by providing the required information to the hired SRs who will visit the sample households.  The authority on the conduct of the WIDI survey is provided under Section 5 of Republic Act 

(RA) No. 10625, also known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, which states that “The Philippine Statistics Authority shall be primarily responsible for all national censuses and surveys, including sectoral statistics, consolidation of administrative recording system, and compilation of national accounts.”

The PSA ensures that data to be collected in the survey shall be covered by the confidentiality of information clause under Section 26 of RA No. 10625, which stipulates that individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys, and censuses of the PSA shall be considered privileged information and such shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, Ph.D.
Chief Statistical Specialist

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