Category: Event

Am 08. September 2021 fand das Fachgespräch “Digitale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit 2021 – Ideen & Aufgaben für die neue Legislaturperiode” statt, das von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Brot für die Welt, dem Institut für Zukunftsstudien und Technologiebewertung und Konnektiv durchgeführt wurde. Es nahmen 22 Experten teil, die zu dem Event geladen wurden, um Ideen für die digitale Entwicklungspolitik in der kommenden Legislaturperiode zu diskutieren. Drei Experten aus dem Globalen Süden äußerten zu Beginn der Veranstaltung Wünsche und Empfehlungen an die deutsche digitale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Ihre Beiträge behandelten unterschiedliche Facetten digitaler Souveränität. In den aufgezeichneten Videobotschaften sprachen sie drei Themen an, die aus ihrer Sicht Kernbereiche der deutschen digitalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit sein sollten. Im Anschluss wurden ihre Beiträge und andere Vorschläge zur Gestaltung der digitalen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit diskutiert.

Die Zusammenfassung kann hier eingesehen werden.

Our CEO Geraldine de Bastion was invited to discuss innovative ways of thinking and doing digital gender equality around the world.

The “The Digital Gender Gap”* event on March 3, 2021 was organised by the International Civil Society Centre with guests Geraldine de Bastion, Kokoévi Sossouvi, and Maja Kraljič and hosted by Barbara Iverson. If you missed the event, here are 10 key points to take away.

1. Think of gender equality in an intersectional way. Women from all races, classes and cultures must be included in the conversation. Women need to have a seat at the table, every table, and all over the world. Yet, as an example, only 18% of ICT specialists in Europe are women. And women are still four times less likely to study ICT than men.

2. Close the gender digital gap to help address issues in the analogue world. For instance, 68% of women report that having a mobile phone makes them feel safer.

3. Provide the basics: infrastructure. Whose responsibility is it if governments are not providing Internet access? If platforms are not creating safe spaces for equal representation and participation? We need to hold them accountable.

4. Do not forget culture. For example, being able to own a phone doesn’t mean it is considered socially appropriate for women to do so. Digital gender norms need to be changed for more equality.

5. Know that access doesn’t mean use. It is necessary but insufficient. We need to know how to use the technology. Imagine you cannot read a text you receive, or you don’t understand its language. Alternatives, such as banking technologies using voice messaging, have been proven to help. Another way is to create common spaces, for instance attached to public libraries, where individuals can access the internet and learn about it.

6. Make the Internet more about creation, less about consumption. Women have the right to code. They should be encouraged and empowered to create digital spaces where they can enjoy their rights and find pleasure, as outlined in the Feminist Principles of the Internet.

7. Centre anonymity. Anonymity has always helped women, especially queer ones, and even more when also activists. It should be a core concern in building a more inclusive digital future.

8. Challenge discrimination, censorship and harassment, which disproportionately affect women, especially queer ones.

9. Encourage women to ask for funding and make funding more accessible.

10. Make cross-sectoral alliances to support and encourage inclusion. For example, women in tech could learn from women in energy, who are also out-numbered by male colleagues.

*The event “Digital Debate: The Gender Gap” was organised by the International Civil Society Centre. Kokoévi Sossouvi is a digital financial services expert and Maja Kraljič is a web developer & open source diversity and inclusion advisor. The debate was moderated by Barbara Iverson, an interpersonal skills and intercultural management lecturer at the CODE University of Applied Sciences in Berlin.

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Time: 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. EDT / 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. CET

The Heinrich Boell Foundation Washington, DC and Konnektiv, Berlin hosted an online discussion on perspectives on digital sovereignty in the Global South.

Digital technologies are instrumental for global exchange and connectivity – nothing illustrates this better than the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet there is fierce competition over who gets to reap the benefits of cross-border data flows. The United States and China are in a process of decoupling their digital spheres while the European Union is asserting its digital sovereignty by launching Gaia-X, the European cloud.

Countries in the Global South often find themselves on the sidelines of global debates over digital governance. In this event, Geraldine de Bastion introduced our new paper “Data and the Global South: Key Issues for Inclusive Digital Development”, which gives an overview of key issues for inclusive digital development. The panel discussed how societies in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can access the data they produce and put them to good use – while avoiding exploitation or repression by domestic actors.

Speakers included:

Moderated by:

• Sabine Muscat, Program Director Technology and Digital Policy, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Washington, DC

The Heinrich Boell Foundation Washington, DC is a non-profit organization that is part of the global green movement. The foundation is based in Berlin, Germany, and has a network of over 30 offices around the world. It The Washington, DC office, in line with the foundation’s guiding principles and values, works to advance political and socioeconomic transformations through civic engagement and political dialogue. As an independent 501(c)(3) organization, we run global and transatlantic dialogue programs, and we work to shape multilateral processes and the norms that govern them.

Konnektiv is a Berlin-based agency working at the intersection of technology, collaboration, and social development. We focus on new innovative approaches for international development in the field of digitization. We design, manage, and evaluate development projects in the ICT sector, advise on digital strategy and portfolio management, provide training and facilitation, conduct research and analysis, and program software solutions.