Indian Woman Shortlisted for United Nations' Women in Business Awards 2018

Indian women entrepreneur Chandra Vadhana, who hails from Kerala's Cochin area, has been shortlisted among the finalists of the sixth Empretec Women in Business Awards - 2018 by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a permanent organ of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

The awards celebrate exceptional businesswomen who have benefitted from UNCTAD's global entrepreneurship training network, Empretec, and become role models for their outstanding achievements in running micro and small businesses.

The winners will be announced on 25 October at the World Investment Forum, taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 22–26 October 2018.

Coming back to Chandra Vadhana, she is a social entrepreneur in the field of Training of Trainers and Employability skills, and founder of four companies -- Prayaana, Trainopedia, T4Trainer and 4Tune Factory -- all in the field of Skill Development and career management. Amusingly, with a Doctoral Research degree in Psychometrics, she is also a voice-over, dubbing artist as well as a Radio Jockey in the past.



Having a versatile personality, Chandra had also participated in the reality show of Amrita Television for which she was awarded as Best Citizen Journalist, where she reported on various social causes and citizen matters.

Besides being entrepreneur, Chandra is doing her PhD from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, and did her M.Sc from University of Madras.

One of Chandra's venture, Prayaana, is an exclusive finishing school and career support mission for women who wish to make an impact in the world. Prayaana gives wholesome career support services right from Career counseling, training, mentoring and recruitment services under one umbrella.

Her another company Trainopedia, which she founded in 2016, is one of its kind curated learning and development magazine in India which aims to revolutionize the field of training and development by bringing together professional trainers, industry and public in a common domain.

As an avid blogger, she also wrote a blog post in 2013 on WomenofWorth.in, where she told that how she survived color discrimination in her entrepreneurial journey and inferiority complex she had developed from this. It is an inspiring story for not just women but male entrepreneurs too.

Coming again to UNCTAD's women in business awards, more than 50 nominations were submitted by Empretec centers from 19 countries. The 10 finalists were selected by a panel of experts based on the innovation, leadership and impact on their communities the nominees demonstrated.

Since its launch in 1988, the Empretec programme has trained and motivated more than 400,000 entrepreneurs in more than 40 countries.

The list of all 2018 finalists (in alphabetical order, by country) are:

• Rosana Marques (Brazil): Ouseuse, swimwear and lingerie


• Rocio Castro Fernandez (Ecuador): Momoa, clothes for breastfeeding mothers


• Ndey Fatou Njie (The Gambia): TiGA, swimwear products


• Chandra Vadhana (India): Skill development, training, assessments and human resources consulting


• Lama Sha’sha’a (Jordan): International Robotics Academy, education for 6–16-year-olds in robotics and science, technology, engineering and mathematics


• Uneiza Ali lssufo (Mozambique): ConsMoz Lda – Building Mozambique Limited, construction


• Barbara Ofwono Buyondo (Uganda): Victorious Education Services, kindergarten through primary school education


• Ana de León (Uruguay): Ruta 10 Upcycling, up-cycling design company (bags, accessories from recycled materials)


• Rina Arráez (Venezuela): Inversiones Alces 1012 C.A., handmade accessories from recycled materials


• Leah Diana Mitaba (Zambia): Butterfly Initiatives, cooperative for the production of vegetables and fruits

The winner and two runners-up will win the chance to attend an executive course in digital marketing by IMD Lausanne, mentoring by the MBA Business School in Grenoble, France, and a watch by Delance of Switzerland among other gifts.

[Images - Chandra Vadhana @Facebook | CeeVee's Corner]

There's Rise in Lack of Trust in E-Commerce Among Global Users Including India, Says Survey

A new global survey reveals that Internet users are increasingly concerned about their online privacy, and that 49 percent of users polled say lack of trust is their main reason for not shopping online.

The countries included in the survey was: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Internet Society, comes as data breaches and the reported hacking of elections in several European countries continues to capture international headlines. The survey results suggest that the resulting impact on trust is hindering further development of the digital economy.

Released yesterday at the UNCTAD E-Commerce Week in Geneva, the 2017 CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security & Trust shows that among those worried about their privacy, the top sources of concern were cybercriminals (82%), Internet companies (74%) and governments (65%).



“The lifeblood of the Internet is trust, and when that is damaged, the consequences for the digital economy are nearly irreparable,” said Director of CIGI’s Global Security & Politics program Fen Osler Hampson. “The results of this global survey offer a glimpse into why policymakers should be concerned, and why there is a strong link between user trust and the health of e-commerce,” he said.

Lack of trust is most likely to keep people off e-commerce platforms in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, suggesting that the potential gains of e-commerce are not spread evenly around the globe.

The survey also revealed great differences in e-commerce behavior when it came to how users are purchasing goods online. For example, in China, India and Indonesia, more than 86 percent of respondents expect to make mobile payments on their smartphone in the next year, compared with less than 30 percent in France, Germany and Japan.

[caption id="attachment_116155" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Propensity to use online payment systems on mobile phones varies greatly by country, with most G-8 countries near the bottom of the list, and emerging economies near the top.[/caption]

Even in the digital world, location still matters. Fifty-five percent of global respondents indicated that they prefer purchasing online goods and services made in their own country.

"The survey confirms the importance of having adequate consumer protection and data protection in place, areas where many developing countries are lagging behind," said Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Technology and Logistics. “More capacity-building is therefore urgently needed,” she added.

The survey of 24,225 Internet users was conducted by global research company Ipsos, on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) between December 23, 2016, and March 21, 2017. The survey was conducted in 24 countries—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

“Nearly 50 percent of Internet users surveyed do not trust the Internet and this lack of trust is affecting the way they use it. The findings of this year’s CIGI-Ipsos survey underscore the importance of taking action now to build stronger online trust by addressing users’ concerns and using technologies such as encryption to secure communications,” said Sally Wentworth, Vice President of Global Policy for the Internet Society.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]