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CALL FOR PAPERS:

The development of science and technology coincided in the last few decades with the call to further investigate the role and contributions of gender in technology. A common narrative tends to favor male-lead innovation and to relegate the contribution of woman to technology in a secondary place and as something exceptional. Although the situation is gradually improving in several economic sectors gender imbalances are particularly pronounced in emerging technologies not only at leadership positions but also in the total workforce.

While several initiatives at the international level such as the United Nations Women Strategic Plan 2018–2021 focused on empowering woman in the economic and political sphere little attention is paid at how to improve the participation of woman to emerging technologies. Barriers to career advancement, gender pay gap,an overall mistrust in the capacity of woman in innovation and harassment are only some of the barriers faced by woman in the workplace.

Women from disadvantaged background and from developing and Least Developing Countries (LDCs) are facing even greater barriers for what is concerning access to education and to work opportunities in the tech sector. In 2019 the Global Fund for Women partnered with Google for the International Women’s day in order to actively reducing gender gap in the technology field. The discussion over the role of women in the context of emerging technologies is only in its beginning and requires an attentive investigation. to find innovative solutions. Law have had an essential role in increasing substantive equality and in reducing the gaps in underrepresented groups. From access to workforce to increasing female leadership positive actions have been used, experimented and implemented across the globe to promote gender equality.

This call for papers invites contributions revolving around the question of how can society ensure the involvement and the contribution of women in the emerging technologies debate? We therefore invite contributions addressing but not limited to the following topics:

•   Emerging technologies role in the advancement of women’s causes in the society.

•   Emerging technologies and equality. How emerging technologies could affect equality between women and men in the workplace and in the society.

•   Emerging technologies and career choices.Are women’s jobs more affected and threatened as a result of emerging technologies?

•   Gender equality and Positive actions. Positive actions to guarantee gender equality should be used in the context of emerging technologies?

•   Women and innovation. How to strengthen participation of women in emerging technologies? What could be the regulatory framework to boost this participation?

•    Emerging technologies and privacy.

•   Emerging technologies and women’s economic empowerment. How emerging technologies could increase women’s economic empowerment? Are there any best practices that should be followed in this regard?

•   Emerging technologies and women’s political empowerment. How could emerging technologies boost female leadership across the globe? What are the main challenges and barriers faced by women in politics?

•   Emerging technologies and international development. How can women shape this sector by using emerging technologies?

•   Emerging technologies and international law. How can women working in the legal field shape and affect the emerging technologies specially the risks associated with these technologies?

•   Emerging technologies and life expectancy. How new technologies may change human lives by extending it, affecting the pension systems and the relations between women and men?

VENUE AND DATES

The conference will take place at the premises of the Convention Centre,Gulf Hotel, Kingdom of Bahrain on March 2021.

APPLICATIONS

Applications must be submitted by 30 November 2020 via email to the attention of Professor Paolo Davide Farah at the following address: PDFarah@mail.wvu.edu . Please include the following information:

•     The author’s name and affiliation;

•     A 500-700-word abstract [Wordfile or PDF];

•     The author’s CV, including a list of relevant publications,if applicable;

•     The author’s contact details, including e-mail address and phone number;

•    Whether the author is an ASIL member Co-authored papers are also welcomed.

Conference Chair

Paolo Davide Farah (West Virginia University, USA and gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development,UK & and ASIL IG on International Environmental Law and Intellectual Property Law)

CO-ORGANIZERS

The workshop is organized by Royal University for Women (RUW),Kingdom of Bahrain. The event is in collaboration with gLAWcal- Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development, UK, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Interest Group on International Environmental Law, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Interest Group on Intellectual Property Law, West Virginia University, Department of Public Administration and West Virginia University, Center for Innovation in Gas Research and Utilization (CIGRU).

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