Special Session on and for female technopreneurs and early career researchers in distributed computing and AI organised by the Gendered Innovation Living Labs (GILL) project

Scope

The special session aims to support female technopreneurs and women in distributed computing and AI. It is organised by the Horizon Europe Gendered Innovation Living Labs (GILL) funded project. It aims to reduce gender inequalities in innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU by developing tools and methods to create more inclusive Innovation Ecosystems. Gender Responsive Smart Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GRSIE) has been described by Woodcock and Christensen (2023) as a reaction against one sided innovations that only consider the technological side and benefit only one group. GRSIE should be disruptive, reactive and challenging. It provides a means of responding to real-world challenges holistically and with new indicators that prioritise and address gender and other intersectional characteristics together with material innovations. 'Smartness' is implied not only in the use of technology but also in the mindsets and methods of those engaged in the innovation ecosystem. Products and systems are 'smarter' when they are integrated with and build on existing solutions, when they are inclusive, i.e., benefitting everyone, not creating worse problems by prioritising the needs of one group, or innovation at the expense of others. 'Gender responsive smartness' requires aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs to work in new ways, with new partners and cutting-edge technologies - to disrupt old ways of thinking and services, particularly in enabling women and those from previously excluded groups to have a voice and to encourage innovations and socio-material designs and services, which are based on their shared experiences. It also requires the development of a culture which values and uses these inputs. GILL activities address the need to fix cultures and ways of working which impede GRSIE.'

Topics

The session's main objective is to share the research and experiences of early career researchers and female technopreneurs who support Gender Responsive Smart Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GRSIE). The aims of the session are:

To demonstrate how the GILL project is addressing the known challenges of female technopreneurs
To share information on barriers and enablers to career progression
To showcase research designed, led and produced by early career researchers in AI and distributed computing
To provide a supportive and collegial environment to develop new relationships

Papers are welcome, but not limited to: