Reliance Jio and GSMA roll out a nationwide Digital Skills Program

Reliance Jio and GSMA are proud to announce the national roll-out of their Digital Skills Program, a joint  initiative under the broader GSMA Connected Women Commitment initiative. The program aims to  provide need-based training to rural women and individuals from marginalized / low-income groups to help  them make meaningful use of digital access.

As per the GSMA’s Mobile Gender Gap Report 2022, women in India are 41% less likely than men to use  mobile internet. A total of 330 million women in India still do not use mobile internet, compared to 248  million men. Lack of literacy and digital skills is one of the top reported barriers to mobile internet use.

As a part of this program, the GSMA and Jio teams worked together to assess prevalent digital skill gaps  and develop need-based digital skills training toolkits that are India- specific. The toolkits were designed  post extensive field research and user feedback. Over 1,000 rural women and men from Uttar Pradesh and  Tamil Nadu participated and provided inputs for the refinement of the digital training toolkits during the trial phase.

The national roll-out phase is now underway, with the program being rolled out across 10 states with a  focus on reaching women and marginalized groups. Reliance Foundation will be supporting the rollout  through its large network and self-help groups, particularly in rural areas.

On this occasion, Ms. Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio, said, “Mobile technology has the power to  empower women, making them feel more connected, independent, and secure, and providing them with  access to important information that helps them in their daily lives. We are proud to partner with GSMA in  this program to take digital skills training to the women across India and be the wind beneath their wings.”

Commenting on the program, Mr. Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA, said, “Mobile technology has  the potential to positively contribute to protecting women’s human rights and to strengthen their  economic, social, and political empowerment and development. But more needs to be done to ensure  women are not being left behind in an increasingly connected world. We are excited to partner with Jio and  Reliance Foundation to take the Digital Skills Program national and help accelerate digital inclusion for women.”

Over the next few months, both Reliance Jio and Reliance Foundation will be focusing on scaling up the program.

Jothi.S