March 20th 2018
SD Talks Special Series on Data for Sustainable Development 3 - Big Data and the global gender gap: the promises and perils of digital information
Rebecca Furst-Nichols,
Bapu Vaitla0.12 min3Organised by the UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in partnership with the Data-Pop Alliance, this SD Talks Special Series on Data webinar on the topic 'Big data and the global gender gap: the promises and perils of digital information' took place on 20 March 2018.
The webinar featured Rebecca Furst-Nichols (Deputy Director) and Bapu Vaitla (Fellow) from Data2X, a collaborative technical and advocacy initiative hosted by the United Nations Foundation that works to improve production and use of global gender data. The webinar introduced the concept of gender data, explaining how data on women and girls can be leveraged to promote gender equality, alleviate poverty, and advance development progress. It explored the opportunities and risks of gender data use, and its implications for girls’ and women’s lives and realities. The webinar was moderated by Ugo Caruso, Digital Team Lead, UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development
The SD Talks Special Series on Data is a webinar series organised by the UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in partnership with Data-Pop Alliance to further discussions around data and sustainable development.For more information, please email sustainable-development@unssc.org.
Rebecca Furst-Nichols
Rebecca Furst-Nichols is Deputy Director of Data2X, a collaborative technical and advocacy initiative of the UN Foundation that works to improve production and use of global gender data. She helps lead partnerships with data producing agencies, as well as Data2X’s management and operations. She has also worked on women’s economic empowerment research at the UN Foundation. Prior to joining UNF, she managed and conducted field research on livelihoods with migrants and refugees. She has worked and lived in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, France, Ecuador, and Israel. She holds an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Bapu Vaitla
Bapu Vaitla is a Data2x Fellow managing the big data and gender strategy. His core interest is the relationship between human cooperation and child well-being: why people decide to work together (or not) for mutual benefit, and the effects of these decisions on the structure of states, markets, and ultimately the lives of children. He was born in India and grew up in California. He holds a BA in Nature and Culture and an MS in International Agricultural Development from UC-Davis, as well as a PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is currently a research associate at Harvard University and a visiting lecturer at UC-Davis. He is inspired by the potential, and unsettled by the politics, of big data.
