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Compete in the hack that will develop AI solutions for gender equality

On November 29, a global norm-critical hackathon kicks off with the aim of generating AI solutions that contribute to increased gender equality. Three winning teams are rewarded with a tailor-made prize to be able to further develop their solution. Do you and your team want to participate? Do you already have a commercial solution in mind or do you want to hack ideas with others?

This web page has been machine translated. If there are any uncertainties, please refer to the Swedish text.

Hack hACTathon - AI for increased gender equality, invites startups, companies, individuals, civil society and academics to a three-week virtual hack to create commercial and norm-creative AI solutions that promote gender equality.

Organizers are Accenture, Silicon Vikings, Nordic innovation house in Silicon valley together with Vinnova.

The hack focuses on calling for action on gender equality challenges using AI. Participants are offered thematic sessions in gender equality, norm-critical innovation processes, business development and pitch technology. The actors that facilities the hack are Silicon Viknings (USA) and Accenture (Sweden).

What is this hack really about? Moa Persdotter, one of two coordinators for Vinnovas JiM-uppdrag.

Moa Persdotter is one of two coordinators for Vinnovas JiM-uppdrag

- It is an international, digital, hack that calls for action on gender equality challenges. The hack brings together people all over the world who work together in teams to develop scalable AI solutions to gender equality challenges through norm-critical innovation processes.

What is the goal of an AI for increased gender equality? What do we want to achieve?

The goal is to develop new innovative, commercializable AI solutions to gender equality challenges. We know that more knowledge, incentives and contact areas need to be built up between organizations and individuals with expertise in AI, gender equality and those affected by lack of gender equality. Our objective is that this hACTathon should contribute to just that.

What was the result of the gender equality hack that was carried out last year?

Last year we had a reach across seven continents - which we have the ambition to be able to get again this year.

An annual hack that challenges existing AI approaches and shows that AI can be used as a tool for gender equality

Based on last year's notch, we have worked to tailor support for the three winning teams. Among other things, this has led to two teams being placed in the accelerator program REACH in Silicon Valley.

We have also collaborated with the Swedish embassy in Zurich through their conference #WeTechTogether with the organization Women in AI.

Focus on coaching

New for this year is that we integrate a norm-critical approach and place greater focus on coaching and educating the participants. We will offer thematic sessions in gender equality, norm-critical innovation processes, business development and pitch technology. As I said, we also have two new actors as facilities this year: Silicon Viknings (USA) and Accenture (Sweden).

Who do we especially hope will participate?

The primary target group for our hACTathon is knowledgeable people in AI and gender equality - it can be programmers, gender scientists, behavioral scientists, economists, business developers, students as well as business people. The important thing is that they are driven individuals with a will to solve gender equality challenges with the help of AI.

It is possible to register both as an individual and as a team. If you have already started working on an idea, it is good to continue working with it and accelerate the idea with the help of other skills that you find via the hack.

Our ambition is for this to become an annual hack that challenges existing AI approaches by showing that AI can be used as a tool to help solve gender equality challenges and generate commercializable solutions.

What is a hack and how does it work?

A hack is done so that a number of people are connected in different places in the world and hack with the goal is to make something happen - that a change as a results of their digital communication.

Participants have contact with each other online - in this hack via the Eventornardo platform. They are also connected to a chat or video feature such as Zoom, Teams or Google Meet. They hack a challenge or a problem such as economic inequality. The hackers are trying to come up with new solutions and ideas for how people, for example, can save for pension more equally.

The solutions in hACTathon must in one way or another contain AI. Which people they want to reach with their solution depends on the gender equality challenge they take on. If economic gender equality a challenge and equal pension savings as a solution, it can, for example, be couples who save for retirement. Or the solution is aimed at fund managers and banks. Sites they visit are sites that give them the information they need to hack their challenge, such as the Swedish Pensions Agency, banks, funds, Statistics Sweden.

Hackers should be able to demonstrate a scalable idea or solution where they show how AI can be used to promote gender equality.

Questions?

Moa Persdotter

Programme manager

+46 8 473 30 17

Sophia Ivarsson

Programme Manager

+46 8 473 31 60

Last updated 24 November 2021