LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Bright Initiative, a global pro bono programme and organisation by Bright Data that uses public web data to drive positive change, last week hosted a major gathering of data leaders to explore how data can be used to combat violence against women and girls. Hosted on behalf of Women in Data - which has a membership of over 25000 data professionals - the event was the start of a process to develop a detailed set of recommendations to ensure that the full power of data is used in making society safer for women and girls.
A group of the UK’s most senior data leaders and policy experts took part in the meeting, held in London’s prestigious Langham Hotel on Tuesday 28 June 2022. Participants included:
- Chief data officers (CDOs) from a number of UK Government departments and public agencies;
- CDOs and senior data leaders from companies including Microsoft and IBM;
- Campaigners for gender equality and survivors of violent attacks who were able to tell their stories.
The meeting followed a Women in Data event in 2021 that identified data as a weapon to help combat the persistent threats women face to their safety in everyday life.
Keren Pakes, General Manager of the Bight Initiative, said:
“The Initiative’s mission is to make positive change with data and there are few examples of where this is more needed than women’s safety. The fact that women and girls continue to live under the threat of violence is an absolute disgrace but it’s not enough just to get angry - we have to use our expertise to fight it.
“We know that data is one of the most valuable resources in the world, able to accomplish remarkable things if collected and utilized effectively. The ideas and energy that were generated in this meeting set a clear direction to ensure that the power of data is used to save women’s lives.”
Led by Payal Jain, CEO of Women in Data. The event included opening presentations from Bright Data CEO Or Lenchner and Women in Data Committee member - and senior strategist at BAE Systems - Holly Armitage. Their presentations set out the scale of the issue - with Holly Armitage commenting that data is a ‘magic trick not currently working for women’ - and signs of what could be possible. Showcasing what could be possible, Or Lenchner highlighted a successful initiative that has used Bright Data’s ability to collect web data at scale to help combat sex trafficking.
Attendees concluded that a number of issues need to be addressed to ensure that data helps to drive change, including:
- Problems with data on the scale and nature of threats to women, due to underreporting as a result of lack of trust in relevant institutions;
- The need for data to be better shared within and between relevant agencies;
- The opportunity for data-driven insights to inform preventative interventions, including efforts to tackle the culture of ‘toxic masculinity’ that normalises aggressive behaviors.
Following the summit, the Bright Initiative and Women in Data have agreed to continue their partnership with a programme of work exploring the issues that arose in detail, further drawing on the expertise and enthusiasm of the senior figures that took part in the event. Bright Data, which powers all of the Bright Initiative’s work, has also committed technical expertise and engineer time to developing innovative new tools that can apply web data to enhancing women’s safety.
The culmination of the programme will be a fully detailed set of practical recommendations and accompanying tools to be launched at Women in Data’s Annual Conference on 9th March 2023, immediately following International Women's Day.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About the Bright Initiative
The Bright Initiative was established as a place to make a real impact on our people’s lives. We offer our innovative, data-driven technology and products, know-how, vast expertise, and finely attuned support, aimed at quite literally improving the world as we know it. We focus on three areas:
- Academic: Fueling academic research & providing educational programs
- Environmental protection + public wellbeing: Promoting environmental protection initiatives & powering public well-being organizations
- Web transparency: Driving web transparency initiatives & global regulations
- Public policy: Driving data-driven strategies to benefit our economy & society
To read more about the Bright Initiative, click here
About Bright Data
Bright Data is the industry-leading web data platform. Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, and small businesses rely on Bright Data’s solutions to retrieve public web data in the most efficient, reliable, and flexible way so they can research, monitor, train their
