EcosystemSUMMIT & RESEARCH
Evidence library / Connected ≠ Ready: Getting to a Ground-Level View of AI Readiness for Women and Vulnerable Populations
AI for development · SELECTED MOMENT · 0:39

Starting a study only with smartphone owners can exclude much of the intended population from its denominator.

Likely speaker
Caryl FeldackerSenior Program Officer, Data and Technology Adoption, Gender Equality Division · Gates FoundationSpeaking in a personal capacityLinkedIn ↗

Free short preview · A smartphone can still leave you disconnected

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Caryl FeldackerSenior Program Officer, Data and Technology Adoption, Gender Equality Division · Gates FoundationSpeaking in a personal capacityLinkedIn ↗

Starting a study only with smartphone owners can exclude much of the intended population from its denominator.

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Attributed contributors: Caryl Feldacker. “Starting a study only with smartphone owners can exclude much of the intended population from its denominator..” Connected ≠ Ready: Getting to a Ground-Level View of AI Readiness for Women and Vulnerable Populations. ECOSYSTEM Summit, Barcelona, 16 September 2026. Session time 1:19:05–1:19:45. https://cs-ecosystem.commonshare.workers.dev/evidence/E-2ba9f4767579

Interpretation and context.

Analyst synthesis. The recording establishes that a claim was made. It does not independently establish the claimed effect.

qualification

Starting a study only with smartphone owners can exclude much of the intended population from its denominator.

Contributors
Caryl FeldackerSenior Program Officer, Data and Technology Adoption, Gender Equality Division · Gates FoundationSpeaking in a personal capacityLinkedIn ↗

Proposed mechanism: Define the target population before restricting recruitment by technology access.

Limit: Illustrative exclusion percentage not independently checked.

evaluationmembership boundaryunequal harms

Where it connects.

Device ownership and expressed interest are incomplete measures of effective access.

Charging, installation costs, household relations, usable language and trusted intermediaries determine whether a service reaches people. Starting with current users can hide exclusion.

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