{"618999":{"#nid":"618999","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Michael Best to Speak at U.N. for Release of Report on Digital Gender Equality","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs many around the world celebrate International Women\u0026rsquo;s Day on Friday, March 8, a number of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E faculty and students are making their own contributions to promoting women\u0026rsquo;s rights and gender equality. Among them is Georgia Tech Associate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EMichael Best\u003C\/strong\u003E, who will speak at the United Nations next week during the formal release of a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/docs.wixstatic.com\/ugd\/04bfff_e53606000c594423af291b33e47b7277.pdf\u0022\u003Eresearch report\u003C\/a\u003E by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.equals.org\/\u0022\u003EEQUALS Global Partnership\u003C\/a\u003E, a coalition of more than 90 partners from government, industry, and academia that he helped found in 2015.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBest, who holds appointments in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, will offer closing remarks on the report\u0026rsquo;s launch during the 63\u003Csup\u003Erd\u003C\/sup\u003E session of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.unwomen.org\/en\/csw\u0022\u003ECommission on the Status of Women\u003C\/a\u003E, the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe report, titled \u003Cem\u003ETaking Stock: Data and Evidence on Gender Equality in Digital Access, Skills and Leadership\u003C\/em\u003E, highlights the impacts of technology on women in various contexts like jobs and wages, security and privacy, cyber threats, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the report\u0026rsquo;s results are a few key findings:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EWhile gender gaps are observable in most aspects of information and communications technology (ICT) access, skills, and leadership, the picture is still complex with large regional variations.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EThere is no one final strategy for eliminating gender digital inequalities.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EThe dominant approaches to gender equality in ICT access, skills and leadership mostly frame issues in binary (male\/female) terms, thereby masking the relevance of other pertinent identities.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ETo ensure privacy and safety as well as full participation in the digital economy, women and girls should have equal opportunities to develop adequate basic and advanced digital skills.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDevelopments in digital technologies open new pathways to gender diversity and inclusion; however, lack of attention to gender dynamics hampers the potential for true progress.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This report offers a comprehensive look at the issues affecting women and girls equality in a digital age,\u0026rdquo; Best said. \u0026ldquo;While surfacing many current challenges, it also sketches pathways forward towards achieving digital gender equality.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBest joined Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s faculty in 2004 and has directed the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cs.unu.edu\/\u0022\u003EUnited Nations University Institute on Computing and Society \u003C\/a\u003E(UNU-CS) in China since 2015. He co-founded the EQUALS Global Partnership and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.equals.org\/research\u0022\u003EEQUALS Research Group\u003C\/a\u003E, the latter of which is responsible for the report.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEQUALS works to reverse the increasing digital gender divide, aiming to close the gap by 2030 and supporting the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals by empowering women through their use of information and communication technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;From its inception, the EQUALS Global Partnership has focused on evidence and data to illuminate the intersections of gender with ICTs,\u0026rdquo; Best said. \u0026ldquo;We have positioned the EQUALS Research Group at the forefront of this investigation, shining a light onto the realities and possibilities for women and girls in a digital age.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe report will be released on March 15 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Michael Best will speak at the United Nations next week during the formal release of a research report by the EQUALS Global Partnership, a coalition of more than 90 partners from government, industry, and academia that he helped found in 2015."}],"uid":"33939","created_gmt":"2019-03-08 18:36:20","changed_gmt":"2019-03-08 18:36:20","author":"David Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-03-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"618997":{"id":"618997","type":"image","title":"EQUALS graphic","body":null,"created":"1552069697","gmt_created":"2019-03-08 18:28:17","changed":"1552069697","gmt_changed":"2019-03-08 18:28:17","alt":"EQUALS - International Women\u0027s Day 2019","file":{"fid":"235630","name":"EQUALS.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/EQUALS.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/EQUALS.png","mime":"image\/png","size":113788,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/EQUALS.png?itok=R7CIaCPB"}}},"media_ids":["618997"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/features\/michael-best-united-nations","title":"\u0027They Need Us. And We Need Them.\u0027"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1299","name":"GVU Center"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"907","name":"Michael Best"},{"id":"167256","name":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"},{"id":"166848","name":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"id":"180738","name":"digital gender equality"},{"id":"86981","name":"gender equality"},{"id":"23281","name":"international women\u0027s day"},{"id":"2628","name":"united nations"},{"id":"10230","name":"equality"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Mitchell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}