Organised by the JCSE at Wits University
Partners
big data & GBVF
Mobilizing Big Data and AI Against GBV and Femicide
10th August 2021 @ 15h00(SA time)
The Webinar Event
What's it About?
Gender Based Violence and Femicide ( GBVF) has been described by President
Ramaphosa as “the second major pandemic we face in South Africa today”. Our country has one of the highest incidences of femicide and rape in the world. Wits University hosts several research and engagement projects that aim to provide knowledge and tools to
counter this scourge in our society. Wits also plays a prominent role as a leading
institution in the fields of data science and AI.
This Free online workshop will discuss responding to GBVF by
mobilising data using Big Data and AI . We will discuss practical interventions that can be made using dashboards, Apps and other digital tools to leverage access to data.
The Panel
Dr Judy Dlamini – Panel Moderator
Dr Judy Dlamini is the Chancellor of Wits University and GBVF Response Fund Chairman.
She is a medical & academic doctor, business woman, author, and philanthropist; has worked in different sectors of the economy. She is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Mbekani Group, co-founder, sponsor and trustee of Mkhiwa Trust, her family’s PBO used for social upliftment, focusing in rural development, health and education; and founder of Female Academic Leaders Fellowship NPC, a PBO for developing a pipeline of black women leaders in academia. She chairs the board of Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, GBVF Response Fund and is a director of SA SME Fund. Her Doctoral thesis investigated the intersection of race, gender and social class in women CEOs’ career progression and strategies for gender transformation at leadership level. She is the former Chairman of Aspen Pharmacare Limited, former board member of Anglo American plc, Discovery Holdings Ltd, Woolworths Holdings Ltd, and Northam Platinum. She is a published author of ‘’Equal but Different”, “The Other Story” and “Grow to be Great”.
Dr Nechama Brodie – Panellist
Nechama Brodie is a veteran journalist and the author of nine books including Femicide in South Africa (Kwela Books). Nechama is the former head of training and research at independent fact-checking organisation Africa Check and holds a PhD in journalism from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she is also a lecturer. Her research work focuses on data collection and fatal violence in the global south, and she continues to teach and write about media, misinformation and public health.
Prof Gertrude Mianda – Panellist
Gertrude Mianda holds a PhD in Sociology in Gender and Development from Université Laval in Québec City. She is the Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas at York University in Toronto Canada. Dr. Mianda is a Full Professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies program at Glendon Campus and in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, York University, where she was the Chair (2011-2015).
Professor Mianda is a sociologist, feminist, and Africanist with research interests in gender and development, globalization, post-colonialism and decolonialism, with a focus on Congolese women. Her research focuses as well on immigration, primarily on francophone Africans in the minority francophone community in Canada (Toronto and Ottawa), and particularly on their economic and social integration.
Adv Bonnie Currie-Gamwo – Panellist
NOTE: Due to illness, Adv Bonnie Currie-Gamwo was replaced on the panel by Adv. Pierre Smith
Dr Tomiwa Erinosho – Panellist
Dr Tomiwa Erinosho is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Towntalk Solutions Inc, a data-intelligence company building AI and data science solutions using location-specific data. Towntalk captures “hard-to-collect” data using scalable technology tools and develops solutions that help to improve safety and security for individuals, businesses and governments. Recently, Towntalk was co-awarded the Global South AI4COVID Response project alongside the Social Science Academy of Nigeria to deploy its technology tools and Artificial Intelligence to mitigate gender-based violence and related insecurities faced by women in Nigeria. Notably, Tomiwa serves as the Project’s Principal investigator.
The recording of the webinar will be accessible on this page after the event. You can also post comments and questions here.