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A hackathon can harness the collective creativity of diverse minds, bringing together experts, advocates and technologists – often with strong representation by youth – to develop tools that can, for example, help to identify and mitigate online threats or empower women to navigate the digital landscape safely. By fostering collaboration and encouraging the exploration of cutting-edge technologies, it can bridge the gap between the challenges faced by women online and the solutions that technology and AI can provide. This option serves as a practical step-by-step guide for setting up a successful hackathon.
A hackathon is usually an event where people come together to collaborate to solve a problem or identify new opportunities over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Participants can vary by profession, traditionally including graphic designers, interface designers, product managers, project managers or software engineers, yet more hackathons are involving broader participation from the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions.
Creating a space for inclusive innovation is crucial, ensuring that the solutions developed address the diverse needs of women across different backgrounds. By engaging participants in such a collaborative effort, the hackathon can serve as a catalyst for change while also cultivating a community committed to further the gender equality agenda, including tackling gender biases online and bias inherent in AI systems, and preventing widespread online intimidation and harassment of women. This, in turn, will help find viable and sustainable solutions to address gendered violence during elections and may also address issues of women’s political participation.
Practical step-by-step guide for setting up a successful hackathon:
Not only will the target audience for a hackathon vary according to the activity, but it may also vary depending on the identified outcome criteria. As a general rule of thumb, it is important to involve women and girls working in the STEM professions in such activities for a number of reasons: they are often underrepresented in such activities, they may come up with innovative solutions not explored yet, and it can help to foster a culture of active engagement in democratic processes among young women from a young age. It is particularly important to target young women to ensure their perspectives are heard while also engaging men and boys to bring them on board.
Governments can play a fundamental role by increasing the digital infrastructure, building enabling technologies and adopting regulatory frameworks and protocols ensuring that women have equal access to digital identification means and e-services and that their privacy is protected.
National statistical agencies and academia can partner to generate and make gender-disaggregated data available, which is essential to develop inclusive digital strategies, while the public and private sector can incentivize gender-responsive leadership to ensure women can meaningfully participate in the development of these strategies.
The private sector is the main driver and actor in developing AI tools by fostering diverse and inclusive teams comprising individuals with diverse gender identities, backgrounds and perspectives. This will ensure that AI technologies reflect the needs and experiences of diverse user groups. Additionally incorporating ethical AI principles and guidelines that prioritize fairness, transparency, accountability and human rights into the design, development and deployment of AI technologies will ensure that gender considerations are integrated throughout the AI lifecycle.
The active involvement of women, gender equality experts and women’s organizations in policy development and service design and delivery is key to enhancing women’s digital inclusion and in ensuring that policies and services address their needs.
It is difficult to give a clear number for costing since costs are linked to specific contexts and types of support and activity; however, generally, costs can be related to the following:
STEM4ALL Platform
STEM4ALL is a joint platform by UNDP and UNICEF in Europe and Central Asia dedicated to accelerating gender equality and the representation of women and girls in STEM to meet the demands of the future of work in the region. STEM4ALL targets a wide audience ranging from women and girls to policy makers and the private sector. It is a virtual, public space for advocacy, research and news to promote gender equality and inclusion in STEM across the region and beyond. Bridging the gender divide in STEM education and careers is vital for gender equality and creating infrastructure, services and solutions that work for people everywhere. In a world where scientific and technological solutions are urgently needed, we need half of the world’s talent. We need women and girls.
Read more: https://stem4alleurasia.org/
Hackathon AI for Good Global Summit
AI for Good Global Summit: This annual event organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) often includes sessions and workshops focused on the ethical and societal implications of AI, including gender bias and inclusivity.
Read more: https://aiforgood.itu.int/summit24/
Hackathon Technovation
Technovation is a global tech education non-profit organization that offers programmes to empower girls and women to become leaders and innovators in the tech industry. The Technovation Challenge is an annual competition where teams of young women, typically aged 10–18, are tasked with identifying a problem in their community and developing a mobile app solution to address it. Throughout the challenge, participants receive mentorship and support from volunteer mentors who are professionals in the tech industry. The Technovation Challenge not only provides girls with hands-on experience in coding and app development but also emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving and entrepreneurship skills. By specifically targeting young women and girls, Technovation aims to bridge the gender gap in STEM fields and inspire the next generation of female leaders in technology.
Read more: https://technovationchallenge.org/
Gearing Up for Hackathon of Ideas – Using Technovation in Digital Medium to Combat Gender Violence
Addressing the problem of digital violence as a form of gender discrimination was included in the set of key themes of the marathon of ideas called ‘IT vs Violence’. The event was organized within the framework of the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan. Young people from the region’s countries could offer their ideas on the marathon’s theme. In 48 hours, participants developed more than 50 solutions in the form of applications, web services and chat bots that help prevent gender-based violence, collect data about it and provide assistance to survivors of violence.
Learn more here: Gearing Up for Hackathon of Ideas – Using Technovation in Digital Medium to Combat Gender Violence | United Nations Development Programme (undp.org)
Ashgabat’s first-ever Women’s Hackathon promotes gender diversity in Tech
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkmenistan within the Global Project on ‘Strengthening resilience to prevent violent extremism in Asia (STRIVE Asia), Joint EU-UN Partnership’ and the Launch Life Coding Bootcamp, supported by the United States Embassy in Turkmenistan, hosted a Hackathon themed ‘DigiWomen STRIVE’.
Learn more here: https://www.datatopolicy.org/
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