New centre puts equality at the heart of tech
Gender equality will now be safeguarded in technical innovations. On Monday, InspireLab was inaugurated - a new center at KTH dedicated to promoting gender equality through technology and innovation.
The center will support projects that use technology to improve women's living conditions, tackle concrete challenges and contribute to a more sustainable social development. Special emphasis will be placed on initiatives that are both innovative and impactful.
“We need to change the pace of of things when it comes to gender equality”, said Pia Höök, center director during the inauguration.
InspireLab will offer research funding, but its mission goes beyond that. The centre also aims to spread knowledge to the wider public, organise graduate schools, and generate research that can be integrated into both KTH’s education and long-term research efforts.
“It is time to stand up for these research topics,” said KTh president Anders Söderholm in his speach. ”This centre is both timely and important in the light of our times. I hope it will influence our education and the future perspective of our engineers.”
Annika Borgenstam, Vice President for Research at KTH, highlighted KTH’s strong track record in promoting gender equality, both in research and as an employer.
Three project are already being supported by the centre. Led by KTH researchers, they address concrete gender equality challenges such as:
- Preventing birth injuries and mitigating their long-term impact on women’s health
- Rethinking digital consent to reduce the harm caused by deepfake pornography
- Developing AI systems that better reflect the lived experiences of diverse women
“What made these three projects stand out was that the applicants had clearly identified areas where they could make a difference,” said Ericka Johnson from Inspirelab’s Scientific Council.
Text: Anna Gullers