Politicians, industry, academic and legal experts on technology and Artificial Intelligence took part in the Women in the Digital Era: Safety and Empowerment event organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta to mark the EU-wide gender equality week.
The still existing divide between the genders in STEM subjects and IT skills requires a shift in the traditional mind-set that technological subjects are for boys, speakers agreed.
“Women in Malta are now nearing a par with men in basic and intermediate skills levels, but progress is still needed,” noted Abigail Aquilina, Business Development and Outreach Manager at Tech.mt.
“The issue is when it comes to advanced skills and higher-level jobs,” noted Ms Marthese Vella, Chief Technology Officer for AX Group and Malta Chamber of Commerce promoter of ICT careers among women. “Yet, careers in ICT offer a level of flexibility such that women in motherhood should be encouraged rather than deterred in seeking these as a professional field”.
There is lots to choose from in terms of ICT skills training in Malta but both the cultural mindset and lack of information on the options could be holding women back.
“In education, the great complex issue is the cultural mind set. Women are just as technically gifted as men, it is a mind-set to believe that men are more cut out for technologically-related careers,” emphasized Dr Vanessa Camilleri, an academic at UoM’s Department of Artificial Intelligence. “Only 9% of our graduates in technology are female”. She noted that “10 years ago we were teaching people how to write code, now we have the tech to do that, so we need to teach people to think”.
“Use AI as a tool, and question it,” Hon Claudette Buttigieg said, underlining the need for educational approach that teaches and encourages students to think for themselves.
The Maltese MP noted the importance of laws acting as a deterrent to certain behaviours and underlined the importance of implementing laws. Laws need to include fines that are “more than a slap on the wrist” noted Dr Claire Cassar, a lawyer specializing in ICT and Data Privacy, who noted also the difficulty in obtaining redress.
EU laws and international developments from “AI rules, to the Digital Services Act, to the directive on Violence Against Women and the EU signing the Istanbul convention”, are all tools to identify and protect our rights, noted former MEP Dr Josianne Cutajar.
“When women in the public eye are being criticised, sexual images are used. Males are criticised differently. Women should not be subject to gender-sexualised language,” Dr Cutajar said. “The VAW directive provides recourse on how to seek legal help and get the removal of images online”.
Online safety includes basic but important steps to take, outlined by Ms Vella as strong passwords, two-factor authentication, privacy policies and settings. “In cases of harassment online: take screen shots and report, to the platforms like Facebook, that have their own blocking policy, and also to the police if it gets really bad. Do not divulge sensitive personal info, and if you do, make sure you know who is at the other end”.
“19% of the worldwide population has had its identity stolen,” warned influencer and former radio presenter Trudy Kerr. “Last year 3billion identities were stolen and published on the dark web. We should be rejecting cookies. Every single image on the internet is there forever, including photos of our children. As much goodness as there is on the internet, there is also a whole world that is also dark”.
“The solution is not to step away from platforms, but for politicians to push for more control,” noted Dr Camilleri. “Awareness when sharing data is paramount: share consciously”.
The discussion in Malta was part of a series of events on gender equality taking place at the European Parliament in Brussels and around Europe.