Happy International Women’s Day!
With this year’s theme DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, the UN recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. Therefore, we would like to highlight two inspiring female figures in tech:
Motivated by her blindness, Chieko Asakawa has contributed hugely to the development of assistive technology that led to the innovation of text-to-speech. Her efforts have earned her numerous honours which includes a spot in Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, and becoming the first Japanese woman to be named IBM Fellow, IBM’s top honour for its employees.
Also motivated by personal experiences, American software engineer and activist Tracy Chou has been tirelessly helping the tech industry create anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, promote inclusion and diversity and ensure safer online user experiences. Chou’s work gained her multiple recognitions such as being listed among Time’s 12 Women of the Year in 2022.
‘No industry or country can reach its full potential until women reach their full potential.’ said Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook (currently Meta). Women’s exclusion from the digital world has shaved $1 trillion from the GDP of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade—a loss that will continue to grow without urgent action (UN, 2022).
The UN recognises the use of gender-inclusive language as a powerful way to promote equality and eradicate bias. Freedman can be a valuable partner in helping brands navigate this issue in the global marketing space. Get in touch to find out more.
Sources:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day
https://www.womenintech.co.uk/why-are-there-so-little-women-in-technology