On November 16, 2022, UNU Macau's Dr. Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, together with Valentine Goddard, AI Impact Alliance, will co-chair a full day workshop on Gender Equality in Digital Economies and the Environment. It takes place within the context of the 5th anniversary of the AI on a Social Mission Conference. The event is supported by community partners Fiana Arbab who is acting in her personal capacity, and Ali Dunn, founder and executive director of the Data Feminist Network.
The surge of digitisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) development of the last decade has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, the global community has felt the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, from increases in extreme flooding and heat waves to threats to land and marine species survival. While environmental changes have important socioeconomic effects on women, so does AI. This workshop will therefore explore gender perspectives on the use of AI systems in natural resource and climate management. Experts attending have either intersectional and applied approaches, strategies and policies that accelerate the achievement of SDG 5, and/or research gender equality and its intersection with AI systems and natural resource management sectors (maritime, forestry, mining, etc.) and environmental security (climate change, food security). This Round Table aims to be a kick-off for a Working Group that will produce guidelines for the inclusion of a gender-sensitive module in national and international AI policy globally with regards to digital economy and climate security.
The Working Group reflects a diversity of subject-matter backgrounds and perspectives, such as, but not limited to, economics, law, political science, computer science, environmental management, human security and gender studies. For the purpose of our call for proposals and direct invitations to experts on critical issues, research includes action-research, art-based research as well as civil society organization (CSO) led research adopting intersectional, gender-focused, Indigenous, and, or, regional perspectives for Sustainable Digital Economies.
In-depth discussions will be facilitated on: the gendered dynamics and implications for the future of peace and human security (including climate science, food security, marine transport, reconciliation, etc); the operational and national security risks to the underrepresentation of women in AI, especially when it comes to natural resource management; applications of AI and Data governance (policies, standards, norms) that are designed to improve gender equality in sectors such as agriculture, energy, security, climate, migration; the macroeconomic impacts of emerging digital economy policies, digital economy global partnerships, of AI itself and, or of AI regulations; the macrocriticalities that must be included in impact assessments of AI systems to mitigate bias; impact assessment models that can be used to address data asymmetries, and, or post-deployment bias assessment models.
The Round Table will be held online and will be recorded. For more details, please go to the event page at: AI on a Social Mission
