Intensity of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage by Women Entrepreneurs in SME Sector: A Study of Alipurduar District of West Bengal

Abstract

Women entrepreneurship has emerged as driving force to achieve economic development of the country as well as to improve the social status of the women. ICT has a positive impact on the developmental effort by the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship when complemented with ICT technology provides immense opportunities to women entrepreneurs in their business. This paper studied 50 women entrepreneurs in the SME sector in the Alipurduar district in the state of West Bengal. Towards an African e-Index: SME e-access and usage Index (2006) has been used to comprehend the extent of their possession of ICT equipments, their usage and the intensity of ICT usage. Kruskal Wallis test was performed to examine whether difference exists between ICT Usage, ICT Possession ad ICT Usage Intensity across the nature of activity.