Recipient Institution:
eHomemakers/ Mother for Mothers

179 Jalan Datuk Sulaiman 4, Taman Tun Dr Ismail,
60000 Kula Lumpur
Malaysia

Tel/Fax: 603-77273959

Project Leader:
Chong Sheau Ching
csching@pc.jaring.my

URL:
http://www.ehomemakers.net/

Amount and Duration: US$ 29,947 / 12 months

Commencement Date:
1 May 2004

Project Proposal
Executive Summary

The eHomemakers Project, financed under the fourteen-month Demonstrator Applicator Grant (May, 02- July 03) by the Malaysian Governement, is involved in women-connecting-women activities to promote the concept of working from home, changing the existing disadvantages women face and empowering them. We believe that women, especially the disadvantaged, could actively participate in the knowledge-driven economy if they could generate income from home to sustain their families through the use of ICTs.

The "Salaam Wanita Project" is a sub-project of the 'eHomemakers' Project conceptualized to assist and train disadvantaged women (unemployed single mothers with young children, disabled women and those who are chronically ill ) in basic IT skills, with the aim of preparing them to work from home as homepreneurs or teleworkers. Telecenters are not available in their neighborhood.

The eHomemakers Project is now running on its own sustainability fund through other small grants and revenues.

This proposal to APDIP for 'ICT-assisted Economic Empowerment - Integrated Tools Development', a sub-component of the Salaam Project Phase 2, will pilot test ICT application integration taking into consideration affordability and simplicity of usage. The application of the tools is to facilitate economic empowerment of the women.

The other components of Phase 2 are:
i. A Research Study on ICT barriers facing the Salaam Wanita women, specifically related to their disadvantaged positions. It is currently being conducted and will end in April, 2003. The findings from this study will be used to draw up a blue print for the integration of the necessary ICT tools planned in this proposal. This component is funded by IDRC through the Pan Asia Grant, administered by the Canadian Centre for Health and Occupational Safety.
ii. A proposed research to find out potential employers' interest in hiring disadvantaged teleworkers; and how best to match the employers and the women, avoiding stigma and exploitation at the same time; and what type of workable relationship is needed between employers and the disadvantaged in an ICT enabled situation. Funding for this project component is currently being sourced.

The entire concept of the project is geared towards gender empowerment. The project proposal to APDIP is one component that will lead to the achievement of the entire process.

1.0 Project Background

1.1 Salaam Wanita Project Description
The Salaam Wanita Project was conceptualized and launched in June 2002. The first phase of the project was from June 2002 until March 2003. Two hundred disadvantaged women (unemployed single mothers with young children, disabled women and chronically ill women facing regular attacks that necessitates bed rest), AIDS spouses/widows, and disabled, were trained in basic ICT skills, with the aim of preparing them to work from home as homepreneurs or teleworkers. These special women successfully underwent an intensive ICT training course in basic computer software packages and basic Internet usage skills such as using email and browsing the Internet. They then went on to attend more advanced classes, between April 2003 to December 2003, that were tailor-made to suit their needs. The main aim is to equip and prepare them to take advantage of the new digital economy, to expose them to new opportunities through the use of ICTs, in pursuit of economic and social development.

The Salaam Wanita women are mostly homebound due to reasons ranging from physical disabilities, family commitments and other similar reasons. Consequently, they are economically constrained due to their inability to source for work/business opportunities outside their homes. Many are also severely lacking in self-esteem and some have even lost their will to live as a result of their circumstances. The immediate problem is, however, economic in nature and this is the aspect that our proposed project component will address.

At the present moment the DAG grant has been fully utilized. The Salaam Wanita Project still continues with the help of volunteers, and private sector resources. The Salaam Wanita Project Phase 2 consists of pilot testing an integrated ICT application that will enable the stakeholders - the beneficiaries, the ehomemakers community, potential employers of disadvantaged telecommuters, and buyers of homebased products - to communicate and network efficiently and cost effectively.

Our application for the Pan Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme is to assist us in developing the ICT application tools we require in Phase 2 of our Salaam Wanita Project. The Grant will fund the 'ICT-assisted Economic Empowerment - Integrated Tools Development Project', conceptualized to develop an integrated platform of ICT tools to network and link project management, beneficiaries, potential buyers and employers. The tools to be utilised will encompass standard ICT tools such as mobile phones, facsimile machines and the Internet, affordable and easily maintainable by the beneficiaries. Equipping them with first hand knowledge and skills on the usage of these ICT tools will enable them to develop a gradual progression in awareness and skill levels to promote their gender based socio-economic interests.

2.0 Project Justification: ICT-assisted Economic Empowerment - Integrated Tools Development

2.1 Problem statement
The unemployed, the physically disabled, the chronically ill, the AIDS spouses/widows, their children, and their struggle for a decent living and self-esteem is the focus of this project component. The empowerment of individual women fundamentally builds the community's capacity to develop, as it is the woman's ability to rise above her circumstances and contribute effectively to the welfare of her family that is crucial to community development.

The core problem facing these women is economic sustainability. Their main constraint is their 'immobility'. Being housebound, their access to employment and business opportunities is limited. The road to economic sustainability for these women would be in having knowledge of the market/opportunities and the ability to access these markets to sell their products and services. This is the main issue that they need to address before they can aspire to solve their financial woes.

The disadvantaged women's situations render them with less ability to deal with or take proactive approach on opportunities given to them. ICTs must be easily accessible to these beneficiaries and the usage/maintenance must not compound their existing disadvantaged situations. By specially-assisting the women in effective usage of ICTs, ICTs can empower them as individuals, improve their chances of teleworking and in home-business endeavours, and thus socially empower them

2.2 Lessons from Phase 1
Beneficiaries
During Phase 1 of the Salaam Wanita Project, we learnt that the women face huge problems in the usage of IT tools (PCs and Internet technology), thereby reducing their opportunity to participate in opportunities listed in our eHomemakers portal (http://www.ehomemakers.net), under the section called 'Xchange', in the 'Work @ Home' zone http://www.ehomemakers.net/en/exchange.php). Thus they could not generate income as the support system set up can't meet their needs.

Some of the issues faced are:
1. Some of the women are over 35 years of age and are slow learners of new skills;
2. Some women have long periods of illness, so their usage and learning capacity is much slower than others,
3. Many of the women are resistant to learning new technologies as they do not see how technology can help them to earn income;
4. Many of the women are severely constrained economically. The cost of maintaining a computer with higher electricity consumption and the additional cost of maintaining Internet connectivity eats into their survival budget. E.g. lightning strikes are common in Malaysia, modem and phone lines are often strike by lightning. The ill and the disabled especially, do not move/react fast enough to disconnect their lines or tools in such circumstances;
5. The safety of their PC in the house is at stake when husbands/fathers are drunk or violent, low cost/squatter houses are flooded, houses leak when it is raining, and the neighborhood has a high crime rate.
6. Some men feel threatened when their wives/daughters/sisters use the home PC as they see these tools as belonging to men's domain
7. Loss of PCs when women are in hospitals for treatment due to theft by family members and neighbours.

The above findings show that the more disadvantaged a woman's situation is, the more difficulty she has in learning and using IT tools. Even though she is trained in usage of the computer and the Internet, she cannot access our portal to get information or take advantage of on-line opportunities.

We thought that if she has access to Internet, then she can generate income to address her financial situation. It is like giving her a fishing rod and teaching her to fish so she has fish to eat for the rest of her life. But, the lessons we gathered is that her other situations need to be addressed first - fix the leaking roof, clean up after every flood, feed the family, pay utility bills, get out of abusive situations, etc, before she could use the Internet. In terms of priority, we need to do these first - provide her money for medical treatment, find her a safe place to sit under an umbrella as it is constantly raining etc -- before she could learn to fish, but we don't have resources for the medical expenses, an umbrella and the safe place! So, she remains economically disadvantaged even after learning IT and getting a donated used computer.

However, on the other hand she could freely use phones and easily learn to use mobile phones. The hearing impaired, on the other hand, finds it more convenient to use facsimile machines to communicate. These gadgets are also smaller than a PC, so they are not as visually-threatening to the rest of the family members who still hold power over their movements and behaviors at home.

Project Coordinators
Over the past year, some small income earning opportunities from the private sector were listed on our portal. However we needed a coordinator to call or fax all of our disadvantaged women individually to find out their interest. The ones who were ill missed out as they were in the hospital. The single mothers who were working on their own home products missed out when their own phones were engaged. Since they all share the same phone/fax with their families, miscommunication and mis-identification within the family happened constantly.

As such, the Project Management team faced difficulties in communicating with all the 200 women as we had to call or fax each one of them, sometimes more than once, straining our limited resources. Time lapse was common, thus causing delays. Also, when they replied to us, they gave up easily if they found our phone/fax busy. Coordinating 200 women using the phone and fax has been confusing and messy. By the time we got the women coordinated, the private sector had lost interest as it took us too long to respond to them.

In order to address these problems we tried what we thought was a more efficient way, to communicate with such a large group - by asking them to attend group meetings at particular venues at certain dates. We encountered problems again. They are homebound because of disadvantaged situations so most of them were unable to attend external meetings at a particular time. Consequently, many were left out of activities beneficial to them. To try and organise smaller meetings at different time was not feasible as our project resources are inadequate to meet the coordination costs and limited time.

Clearly, we need a better solution in communicating to our disadvantaged beneficiaries.

2.3 Innovative Solution Needed
In order not to tax the women's time and personal resources, a workable solution is needed. Undoubtedly the use of ICTs with their wide-ranging capabilities would be a prime factor in designing a solution that is usable, affordable, sustainable and understandable by the women.

Examination of worldwide communication tools penetration statistics indicates that mobile phones in developing countries are prime movers in communication technologies. PC and Internet penetration does not enjoy the same high growth figures. This is attributed to cost, education and other connectivity issues. While the emphasis on Internet penetration is a concern, the more immediate concern is the issue of economic sustainability of those who need help.

The move towards a common platform for all ICT tools are conducted at international levels now, but it will take a long time for the result to trickle down to benefit those who need help the most right now. Women who need to earn income to feed family or take care of medical needs can't wait that long. The tools are at hand. Now it is a matter of how the tools can be customized to meet the needs of the specific groups we want to assist.

As such, the ehomemakers Project conceptualized the idea to integrate various ICT tools. None of the advantages of the existing ICT technologies would be lost, rather, all the capabilities would be harnessed in a mode which would be of benefit to these needy women. This concept involves the integration of Internet tools (eHomemakers website in particular) together with mobile phone technology (SMS, MMS & WAP) and also the modern facsimile machines.

The integrated platform can provide a front to mask the identities of the disadvantaged women to avoid stigma, e.g. AIDS women/spouses, cancer and SLE patients, and the disabled who face great problems in securing home-based telework contracts as they are stigmatized. With the integrated platform, potential buyers or employers do not need to know the disadvantaged situation of the women, they only need to know that the women belong to the general category of disadvantaged. For e.g., they do not need to know that their documents are typed by AIDS patients, they will only be concerned with the typing quality and timely delivery.

In terms of how this could facilitate access to markets or even pave the way for economic empowerment of homebound women, possible scenarios are as follows :

Scenario 1 :
1. Companies are invited to post job and business opportunities targeted at teleworkers/homepreneurs in our 'Home based Xchange' in 'www.ehomemakers.net'
2. The integrated system picks up the message, relay to all the women in the network - via SMS facilities and facsimile machines (this in particular for the hearing impaired)
3. The women revert as to their interest, rates charged and other pertinent information using their individual devices i.e. SMS or fax.
4. The messages are directly picked up on our website. When required, it is first vetted by an administrator in eHomemakers. Additional information is requested, if necessary, from the women.
5. The short listed replies from the women are then relayed back to the originator of the opportunity who will make the final decision of acceptance or selection
6. Continued interaction can be done via the same mode or directly between the interested parties later.

This scenario leads to cost savings in terms of the relaying of opportunities to all the women, as many are not on the Internet. It also ensures that all the women remain in the loop and get instant notification of any new opportunities.

Scenario 2 :
1. One of the women in the network receives a large order which she is not able to handle on her own.
2. Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, she first sends a message out using her SMS facilities to the entire network citing the opportunity and inviting interested parties to take on the contract with her, forming partnership.
3. Here the responses can be made directly to her or through the integrated system

Thus, the women maintain the networking despite their lack of time or opportunity for face-to-face interactions and the economic capability to sustain an online presence. The same process could be initiated by corporations with eHomemakers as the 'middlemen' to coordinate a group of women to take on larger opportunities.

Scenario 3:
1. A woman in the network wants to introduce has new designs for her product to the market. She has no Internet access for no cost advertisement through our portal.
2. Utilising MMS technology she sends images of her product to the network.
3. The images are captured and stored online in the eHomemakers site
4. Interested buyers within the ehomemakers network are sent alerts on the availability of new designs (through intervention by the eHomemakers site administrator)
5. Interested parties can revert on their interest and request for the images to be forwarded to them or browse the website to take a look at it online
6. Interested parties can contact the source for further dealings or seek intervention from eHomekers' administrators to assist in the initial queries.

The women are given access to the markets they desire despite their absence in the Internet. The integrated technology enables them to plug into the online system to sell, buy, exchange their wares and form strategic partnership with other women. This leads to 'access' and 'empowerment'.

Plenty of situations could be address by this integrated platform. The scenarios given above are basic ways which the integrated ICT platform can be utilized. The advantage of the system is that it caters to women who are scattered in different localities where there is no possibility of utilizing community-based facilities.

Thus, isolated women are not left out. Women who are technologically challenged are not left out. Women who lack self-confidence in 'face-to-face' dealings are not left out (a large number of our special women fall under this category) - they can slowly build up their confidence using this 'faceless' mode.

Creation of this integrated platform will demonstrate how disadvantaged, homebound women can effectively use ICTs to attain financial independence. The integrated tools will contribute to the development and strengthening of practical, relevant and sustainable women's networking initiatives for their economic empowerment. The lessons learnt in the process can provide significant insights and new directions for similar initiatives for and by women nationally and regionally. The concept can be replicated in any part of the world, in particular the developing world where homebound women is a more common phenomenon. The integrated ICT platform gives them the ability to participate in economic activities utilizing tools already at their disposal to pave way for economic sustainability.

3. 0 Project Beneficiaries

3.1 Profile of Salaam Wanita
The ICT-assisted Economic Empowerment - Integrated Tools Development project is targeted at disadvantaged women who, due to disabilities and other circumstances, are confined to their homes and as a result, are economically and emotionally constrained. They have no access to telecenters and are left out in any assistance programs from any NGOs or the government.

A general survey of the original 200 participants of the Salaam Wanita project showed that 4% had chronic ailments like SLE, 4% were single mothers with low/no income, 7% had either disabled or chronically ill dependents, 8% were working with NGOs or women's associations in low earning jobs, 11% were disabled, 16% were hearing impaired, 2% estranged/abandoned with low income, and the remaining 45% from squatter and other marginalized communities. In terms of their status, 22% comprised single women, 19% were married, 25% divorced, 16% widowed, 5% separated/abandoned, while 13% would not disclosed marital status. Participants ranged in age from 17 to 61. The Salaam Wanita core group cuts across a range of disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

3.2 Selection of Core Group
Fifty women will be selected from the 200 initial beneficiaries to from the pilot group for this proposed project component. They comprise homebound women from the following categories:
§ Single mothers with low incomes
§ Disabled or physically challenged women
§ Women who are chronically ill

The selection of women to participate in this project will be based on their readiness to advance to the next stage, skills, attitude factors, and willingness to participate with access to different modes of ICT tools. They must also be those who have a basic level of literacy as all the tools will require the ability to read and write in English and Bahasa Malaysia. They will also have a range of skill sets e.g. engaged in making handicrafts, food catering, good phone personalities, typing and data entry etc, in particular skills which are marketable to corporations.

4.0 Project Objectives

4.1 Immediate Objectives
The main objectives of the project are:
i. To introduce new and improved integration of existing technologies to enable effective communication, marketing and networking among 50 disadvantaged women.
ii. To create an integrated set of ICT tools which makes use of Internet technology, integrated with mobile phone (SMS, MMS & WAP) and facsimile machines in order to construct a common platform for the different modes to 'talk' to each other using available technology, i.e. Internet to phone, phone to internet, SMS facilities, MMS technology, WAP, and other similar technologies. It will not involve reinventing the wheel but rather fitting in all the cogs and getting them to work in unity so that the wheel can move smoothly.
iii. To train 50 women on the usage of this integrated platform.
iv. To identify obstacles and overcome them
v. To pilot test the integrated solution under different situations to meet the main stakeholders' (ehomemakers' project and the disadvantaged women) networking, communication and marketing needs.

4.2 Long term Objectives
The successful implementation of this project will facilitate the building of the platform in Phase 3 of the Salaam Wanita Project:

i. To facilitate access to markets.
The integrated platform will facilitate market accessibility for the homebound women. An online trade posting site enhancing the current 'Exchange section' which has partially been developed by eHomemakers will form the base of the platform. Postings on the site will be relayed to the women using the unified integrated ICT platform. It will enable sourcing, creating and generation of markets for the women. This will pave the way to economic independence. (Refer to the Scenarios given in Section 2.0)

ii. To facilitate the creation of economic clusters among women working from homes using ICT tools as the enabler.
Economic clusters would involve women in the same industry/enterprise or those in complementary industries/enterprises. The aim is to form self-support groups among the women for mutual support and learning. At the initial stages, facilitators from eHomemakers will ensure the formation, integration and growth of these clusters, the aim is to train leaders among the women to take over this role in the long run. (Refer to the Scenarios given in Section 2.0) It will simplify the sourcing, creating and building of home-based economic opportunities for this core group.

iii. To secure a sustainable demand for their products/services, ehomemakers will play an active role in sourcing and securing market support for these activities either from the corporate sector or other organizations/individuals at the initial stage.

5.0 Project Methodology

5.1 Pre-Planning Activities (2 months)
A preliminary study of the findings of the research study on barriers will be conducted in order to select the appropriate 50 women to form the core group for the project. The project will ensure they are equipped with the necessary tools. It will involve a control group of 5 women on PCs and Internet networking, a large number (30) on mobile phone - SMS & MMS services and also a significant number (15) utilizing facsimile machines (for hearing impaired participants). The Project Coordinators will call them to ascertain their interest, then ask them to attend a briefing explaining to them why they are selected, and what the project is about. (4 weeks)

Preliminary discussions with the Technology Partners on the tools involved and the necessary components to be added online to facilitate the integration (1 month)

Sourcing for corporate sponsors for venues/refreshment for conducting training and other group activities that will need to be carried out throughout the project, and hand phone/fax machines. (estimated 2 months).

Some of the activities will run concurrently. The results of this segment will be the blueprint to be used in the development stage. It sets the stage to network the selected women and also the tools in use. Venue for conducting group activities will also be secured at this point so that there will be no problems with the organization of such activities at later stages of the project.

5.2 Integrated Tools Development (9 months)
a) Pilot Model Development (3 months)
An online space will be set up on our eHomemakers website (www.ehomemakers.net) for the Salaam Wanita project whereby a special workspace will be created for them. The Preliminary Study will determine the overall structure of the workspace.

The pilot version of the platform will be developed. This will involve the use of tools such as the PC/Internet, phones/mobiles - SMS, MMS & WAP, facsimile machines and other appropriate tools.

The different modes will be integrated to form a platform that can be utilized by the women. The integrated tools development will be the central focus of the project as this will be the main enabler for homebound women to expose them and give them access to a whole new world of opportunities. The results of this segment will be a pilot model of integrated tools for further testing and modification.

b) Testing and Enhancement (6 months)
Testing the integrated network of tools for the implementation of seamless networking between clients and service providers(Salaam Wanita participants). Dry Runs and modifications to the original system will be carried out. Testing will be done on several levels :
i. On the entire system itself. This would be conducted by the eHomemakers Team together with the Technical Partner using different tools. The tests should ensure seamless integration of the tools. Any quirks in the system will be addressed.
ii. On the system and users using dummy data or opportunities. This will again involve the Technical partners and the eHomemakers team and a small number of the women (5) to see their reactions and ability to use the system.
iii. On the system and users using dummy data or opportunities. This will again involve the Technical partners, the eHomemakers team and the entire group of women participants (50) to test the system workability on a wider scale and user reactions and ability to use the system.

The extent of testing of each level will depend on difficulties encountered.

Phase 1 - Pilot Model Testing(estimated 2 months)
This will be the first phase of testing to ascertain that the system is easily understood and simple enough for usage by the layman. At this stage on the eHomemakers team and the Technical Partners will be involved. It will involve :

i. Test data placed on the website and relayed to handphones and facsimile machines monitored by the eHomemakers team.
ii. The process will be monitored by both the Technical partners and the eHomemakers team to identify problems in understanding how the system works as well as any major bugs in the system will be identified at this stage.
iii. Major problems will be fixed and the process of testing repeated to see if the problems are solved.

This will have to be done in stages to ascertain that each tool is seamlessly integrated into the system i.e. remote PCs, mobile phone units of different service providers and facsimile machines.

At the end of this testing period the eHomemakers team should be well versed in how the system works and how each individual tool can be manipulated within the system. A draft version of a user manual should be available from the Technical Partners at the end of this test period.

Phase 2 - Pilot Model User Testing (Assisted) (estimated 2 months)
This will involve live testing of the system with dummy/real projects will be carried out with assistance and guidance by the eHomemakers team. The testing process will go through a process of information generation, circulation, interaction between the women, feedback and discussion on problems encountered. Technical modifications will be carried out and then the cycle will be repeated. An estimated 4 rounds of this process is anticipated with each cycle taking 2 weeks each time. It will involve the following activities :

i.. Using information on opportunites (real or dummy data) the system will be used to circulate the information to the eHomemakers team and a small (5) selection from the entire group of 50 women. The eHomemakers team will be at hand to assist the women, either in person or via phone/fax.
ii. Simulation of procedures will be conducted to let the women use the system to network among themselves and the eHomemakers team members.
iii. Monitoring will be conducted on the reactions and the abilities of the women to use the system, and the information used to modify or simplify the system for their use.
iv. More modification to the system to overcome user obstacles and situational changes

At the end of this stage of testing the eHomemakers team and the small group of women involved in the testing stage will be well versed in the use of the system. The original User manual will be modified at this stage to reflect changes in the system and simplified for easier understanding by the women.

Phase 3 - Pilot Model User Testing (Non-Assisted) (estimated 2 months)
At this stage live testing of the system with minimal intervention by the eHomemakers team will be conducted to allow the women to control the process themselves. This stage will inculcate confidence levels in the women to ensure proper utilization of the system with minimum problems. Once again real or dummy data will be used to simulate real scenarios.

The women will utilize the system with their individual tools. The eHomemakers team will monitor their usage at the Internet level by monitoring the data traffic. The women will also give the eHomemakers team feedback on their individual experience on using the system and their opinions on what should be changed or modified to make the system work better.
As in Phase 2, the testing process will go through a process of information generation, circulation, interaction between the women, feedback and discussion on problems encountered. Technical modifications will be carried out and then the cycle will be repeated. An estimated 4 rounds of this process is anticipated with each cycle taking 2 weeks each time. It will involve the following activities :

i.. Using information on opportunites (real or dummy data) the system will be used to circulate the information to the entire group of 50 women.
ii. Simulation of procedures will be conducted to let the women use the system to network among themselves without intervention by the eHomemakers team members.
iii. Monitoring will be conducted on the reactions and the abilities of the women to use the system, and the information used to modify or simplify the system for their use.
iv. More modification will be made to the system to overcome user obstacles and situational changes

At the end of this stage of testing the women involved in the project should be comfortable in the use of the system. The original User manual will be modified at this stage to reflect changes in the system and simplified for easier understanding by the women.

Coming out of this segment will be a fully functional model of the integrated tools platform. One that is easy to use and simple to understand.

c. Training (2 months)
The training involved will be done concurrently with the pilot model development phase. It will involve activities like hands on training on checking e-mails, answering and posting requests using the Internet or telephone, SMS messaging. The main training thrust will be on networking and co-ordinating economic ventures between the women. This will involve active organization of the women into economic clusters and some basic training on leadership training and coordination of efforts.

Training will be phased out over 2 months to cover the following :
i. Training of basic ICT tools usage - 2 sessions.
This will cover the basics of using SMS, MMS and WAP facilities. It will also cover the usage of fax machines.
ii. Training on Networking activities - 3 sessions
This will cover the basics of networking between women. It will be conducted in workshop fashion with the women actively involved in joint projects (through discussions).

Training sessions will be phased out over a two-month period and arranged at times that maximize attendance by all the women participant. By the end of the sessions, the women will have grasped the basics of usage of their individual tools and know what is involved in networking. It will be an introduction to what they will face when actual testing of the system is carried out.

d. Home-based Business/Work Opportunities Sourcing (3 months)
This project component will also run concurrently with the tool development process.
The Project Team Members will need to shortlist, visit, interview and recruit a small number of potential companies or organizations to participate in the project. These would be companies/organizations sympathetic to the needs of the beneficiary group and willing to either buy their products or to outsource home based work to them e.g. telemarketing, newsletter sending, mass faxing and other activities. This lays the groundwork to set up a database of potential employers/customers.

The target is to identify a minimum of 3 - 5 companies to participate in the pilot project.

Final Reporting (1 month)
Final report will outline :
- the technical aspects of the platform development process, the final form of the platform, problems encountered and how they were solved;
- The human aspect on handling the platform, problems faced, fear etc and how these were addressed;
- Suggestions for future enhancement of the integrated platform
- Recommendations on replication and usage for other beneficiary groups.

6.0 Work Plan/Timeline

7.0 Expected Outcomes

The outcomes of this proposed project are an integrated set of tools to enable the marginalized women participants to become less 'marginalized' and to start taking active efforts in their own economic empowerment with the use of ICT tools already available to them.

The specific outcomes are:

i. An integrated ICT Tool platform.
A functional model of the integrated ICT tools platform. One that is easy to use and simple.
ii. A Core Group of Trained Disadvantaged They would be trained not only in the use of different ICT tools to access the market but also in using the tools to network between themselves to form economic clusters. Thus laying the foundations for the appropriate interactive networking processes needed by the Salaam Wanita participants, and shaping the nature of networking required between the disadvantaged women with buyers or employers with eHomemakers as the facilitator;
iii. Women who will have multiplier training effect on other disadvantaged women when they become role models for others on ICT4D.
iv. Lessons Learnt on ICT tools usage for marketing/teleworking opportunities.
a. challenges they face in coming to terms with the Digital Economy;
a. assistance they require and the training and learning involved in equipping them with the necessary know-how;
b. information on non-IT training required for them to use an integrated ICT platform;
c. information on the receptiveness of buyers or employers to hiring disadvantaged women for teleworking or e-businesses, teleworking and e-business opportunities which can be exploited by disadvantaged women by using such a platform;

All this information can be shared with APDIP and other civil society groups which are/may be embarking on similar endeavors to help the disadvantaged women with the use of ICTs.

8.0 Project Partners

Our partners include:
Volunteers to work with the women
Corporate Bodies offering venue and refreshments for briefing and training, and donated fax machines/hand phones.
Corporate bodies offering economic opportunities for the women or buying from the women
Media to promote the idea of public buying from disadvantaged women, de-stigmatizing the women's economic and social abilities
Technology Partners to assist in the conceptualization and development of the tools

9.0 Project Sustainability

The proposed ICT-assisted Economic Empowerment - Integrated Tools Development project will lay the foundations for Phase 3 whereby the beneficiaries are expected to earn income from trading and teleworking.

The women participants in the project will be charged minimal administrative costs for the continued maintenance and upkeep of the tools and the network once the income-earning opportunity is firmly set for them. The small fees will provide more 'push' for the participants to participate actively in developing their skills and fully utilizing the tools laid at their disposal so that they don't ride freely on the assistance.

Corporate bodies who want to use the integrated platform to source for labor will also be charged a fee both for usage of the platform.

Assistance will also be sought from corporations/civil bodies that are sympathetic to the needs of this special group of women. This would be both in the form of financial and non-financial assistance.

When the network of viable models of disadvantaged women using ICT grows, the number will be impressive enough for the government to do something about their untapped resources and provide assistance to them. Also, when disadvantaged women earn income, their confidence level increases and they are able to speak up about the sustainability of the project, thus attracting other assistance and private sector to give them work to do.

10.0 Monitoring

Overall monitoring of the project will be done on a monthly basis to ensure the achievement of milestones, problems encountered and how these can be addressed.

Biweekly monitoring of the development and testing will be conducted to ensure that the development is in line with the needs of the beneficiaries' community.
Monitoring at the testing stage will be crucial as it will need to address a few issues :
i. Minimum bugs in the system i.e. the platform should work with no technical hitches;
ii. The specifications of development should match the requirements of the beneficiaries;
iii. The eHomemakers team should be able to understand how to work the system and also how each individual device is connected to the system and how to maximize access capabilities;
iv. The women should be able to understand how to use their individual tools to access the platform.

At the post testing stage we plan to evaluate the group of women participants as well as short listing corporations/organizations participating through a standardized assessment checklist. Monthly assessment reports will be kept within their "portfolio" and the researchers assigned to each group will be responsible to assess their abilities in using their individual tools, problems encountered etc. Their frequency of usage will also be monitored to assess how the system can work to maximize benefits to the group.

Final reports and evaluation of program will be distributed to the funders. Specific information on the women is confidential and individual portfolios will be kept on file in our Salaam Wanita Project for in-house review.