SOS from your smartphone, dedicated apps and links: this is how technology can help women

Yes, technology can help women, of course. And there are many dedicated initiatives launched in March. Among the various sectors that compete to remember the social, economic and political achievements of women, there is also technology. Whether it is hardware (devices and physical media) or software (apps and more) there are different features implemented by technology to raise awareness among all its users against violence and provide for women's needs. Here is an overview of the initiatives we discovered by consulting the network and technology brands.

Let's take, for example, Motorola. Its devices come with the feature SOS Emergencies: a function that can be activated from the settings whereby, by pressing the power button 5 times consecutively, a call is started which can be directed to the police or a friendly contact, such as Pink telephone. A name that is no coincidence given that Motorola supports and takes part in educational project of this historic association that has been committed to listening to women for more than 30 years. Motorola, in fact, comes into play in the planned training for more than 10,000 students throughout Italy: a concrete intervention to prevent and combat the causes, where strategies aimed at education, awareness and support of sector operators are essential.

Also Amazon has decided to work against violence, particularly verbal violence. The voice assistant Alexa, in addition to receiving millions of questions and requests from customers, also continues to receive many insults; «You're an idiot», «You're very ugly», «you suck», are just some of those received by Alexa in 2023 in Italy. For this reason, Alexa has started to collaborate with ActionAid to help raise awareness as many people as possible about the impact of verbal violence. Users will be able to listen to information and insights related to this phenomenon, simply by saying «Alexa, have your say”. Furthermore, in the face of certain insults and insults, Alexa will no longer remain silent, but will respond in kind, underlining how verbal violence can leave a profound impact on the health and social life of those who are subjected to it. «Well done Alexa!»

We always remain in the digital field with the initiative of Naconactive in the market gamingwhich has been accompanying i for years gamers in their gaming sessions. Nacon focuses on women and launches an innovative and totally female project: the D-Sport Project. The initiative originates from the awareness that, also and above all in gaming, the gender gap is a limit to overcome and the consequent desire to give women the right space in this sector. This is how the idea of ​​forming the team was born Nacon eSports composed only of women to give a new voice in the video game universe. The Nacon team selections will start in the next few weeks; here the link to access.

D-Sport Project by Nacon

Also Apple moves in this direction and on the occasion of International Women's Day, App Store celebrates women and non-binary people who have collaborated to create positive change in the world through apps and games. It is present on the Apple store Inspiring Stories – Train like a champion a space that gives visibility to women's esports teams Bigetron Era and Bigetron Ace. Here we tell the story of how they discovered their love for these games, the challenges they faced in the world of esports and the joy of being able to climb the ranks. These two teams are carving out their space in the world of gaming competitive. Both teams live in Indonesia: Era are making a name for themselves in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the Aces in PUBG Mobile.

You Technology with DonneXStrada

Increase women's perception of safety during their journeys on the streetespecially during the night hours, is the goal of You Technologysharing micro electric mobility company, e DonneXStrada, non-profit association for street safety and against gender violence. Voi undertakes to organize, for the next 12 months, experimental events “Pink” parking areas which are added to the purple help points of DonneXstrada. These parking areas, already operational, are located near the nightlife areas of the cities where Voi Technology is present with its fleet of scooters: Turin, Milan, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Palermo. In detail, between 10pm on Friday and 5am on Saturday and between 10pm on every Saturday and 5am on every Sunday, Voi Technology will always make at least two of its scooters available, with the characteristic and recognizable coral pink colour, for the movements of women who wanted to be sure of returning home safely or who even felt threatened by situations of possible harassment inside or when leaving the premises in the nightlife areas.

Technology's focus on the female audience is not just about women device or awareness campaigns. Technology is also development of new materials as the Lycra Adaptiv, a new fiber designed to shape and support while being elastic, breathable and comfortable. Used it Puma to celebrate women who defy expectations with the launch of a new training collection, the Shapeluxe. This proposal was designed to allow women to move without limitations, regardless of physical abilities, body shape or identity, and is made for women who reject the narrative one-size-fits-allencouraging her to always be herself.

The garments from Puma's Shapeluxe line

Another help to the woman also arrives from the Court, or perhaps it would be better to say to fashion editor, influencers and hybrid figures from the world of fashion, who build their careers through clothes and accessories. The clothing used for i selfies, gala evenings, presentations and so on becomes an integral part of the character of the image that is professionally portrayed. The purchase of various types of clothing, therefore, is a condition closely linked to the activity carried out and represents the necessary prerequisite so that it must be considered inherent to the particular activity carried out. In practice, these purchases are possible deduce in the statement of incomes.

But there are also many brands and women who work to help technology themselves in the most disparate forms. There is Swappie – leading company in Europe in the purchase, refurbishment and sale of iPhones – which announced the project #Women4SustainableTech. This multi-day initiative aims to celebrate the women within the company who are making refurbished devices a choice mainstream. There are the women of Xiaomi protagonists of the campaign Xiaomi Inspires Inclusion in support of inclusiveness and equality. And the Apple App Store has always collected in one section ad hoc by title International Women's Day: Meet the women joining forces to make a difference the stories of developers and selections of apps created by women. In particular we highlight the section with career apps all created by female teams.

Some employees of Xiaomi Western Europe representing all the brand's workers

Making the young female universe passionate about scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (Stem) disciplines is also the mission of Rosaria Anna Puglisi of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems of the Cnr. Specifically, as coordinator of Stem-Women in Science he no longer wants to hear the phrase “Maths and science are not for me” uttered by girls. This project pursues several objectives. The first is certainly that of increase the number of women who choose to study and work in STEM disciplines. To do this it is necessary counteract gender stereotypes that hinder women in their STEM careers. In the end, promote female role models positive in STEM disciplines.