This document was presented as a background study for the discussion at the meeting of experts on Globalization, technological change and gender equity" (São Paulo, Brazil, 5-6 November 2001), organized by the Women and Development Unit together with the International Trade Division of ECLAC and the Centre for Women's Studies and Social Gender Relations of the University of São Paulo. It is clear from the text that the new technologies are taking us into a dizzy time of new exclusions, and that in addition to being a material reality they are also a discursive product with effects on institutions, public policies and individuals. The study reviews an extensive amount of theoretical literature, as well as most of the research concerning the inclusion and relationship of women in connection with the new information technologies and skills."