Neema Iyer Explained

Neema Iyer
Occupation:Technologist, artist

Neema Iyer (born), is a technologist and artist. She is the founder and the former executive director of Pollicy, a civic technology organization based in Kampala, Uganda.

Early life and education

Iyer was raised in Nigeria by parents who are Tanzanian and Indian.[1] She then attended Emory University and completed a Masters in Public Health with a focus on epidemiology and statistics before returning to Africa.[1] [2]

Career

After Iyer moved to Uganda in 2013,[3] she worked in information and communications technology, and then founded the civic technology organization Pollicy. Pollicy focuses on the intersection of data design and technology, and has received grant funding from Facebook and Mozilla.[1] In 2014, she was the Text to Change programme coordinator in Uganda, which included work on a program to improve access to clean water.[4]

Pollicy and Iyer have conducted research, including about gender-based violence in Africa, and online safety for women,[5] with reports illustrated by Iyer.[3] [6] [7] In 2020, after Iyer submitted the concept idea to the Mozilla Creative Awards, Pollicy partnered with Mozilla to create the "Choose Your Own Fake News" game,[8] which her team spent months developing.[9] [10] Iyer drew the characters for the game, and emphasized in her designs the target audience of Africans.[9] Other Pollicy projects include a mockumentary about digital security developed with support from the University of California, Berkeley Center for Long-term Cybersecurity,[8] [11] and a "Digital safe-tea" game designed with a "choose your own adventure" format to promote online safety awareness for women in Africa.[12]

In July 2021, Iyer was appointed to the Global Women's Safety Advisory Board at Facebook.[3] She was a 2021-2022 Digital Civil Society Lab fellow in the Stanford PACS program of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.[13] In 2022, Iyer and Pollicy announced a Digital Ambassadors program to promote the development of skills and access of young women in Africa to online technology.[14]

In 2023, Iyer stepped down from her role as the executive director of Pollicy, and continues as an advisor and board member.[15]

Honors and awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Gangji . Inaara . Driving Feminist Data For Change . 27 September 2021 . . June 18, 2021.
  2. Web site: Neema Iyer . Stanford Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity . . 27 September 2021.
  3. News: Balungi . Claire . Neema Iyer: Blazing a trail in technology and data . 27 September 2021 . . July 31, 2021.
  4. News: Uganda : TEXT FOR CHANGE, AKVO partner to provide clean water to UGANDAN communities . 21 July 2022 . Mena Report . April 5, 2014.
  5. News: Taylor . Lin . Love, tech and online abuse of women in the time of coronavirus . 27 September 2021 . . January 4, 2021.
  6. News: REPORT: 30% of Ugandan women have experienced gender based harassment online . 27 September 2021 . . August 21, 2020.
  7. News: Whitehead . Anne . One in three women harassed online - survey . 27 September 2021 . . August 20, 2020.
  8. News: Harding . Xavier . Getting to Know Pollicy, the Creators of Choose Your Own Fake News . 27 September 2021 . . June 11, 2020.
  9. News: Salaudeen . Aisha . 'Choose Your Own Fake News' game wants to tackle misinformation in East Africa . 27 September 2021 . . June 10, 2020.
  10. News: Lichtenstein . Amanda . A new game plays with ideas about how disinformation works in East Africa . 27 September 2021 . . June 16, 2020.
  11. News: Fall 2019 Arts Contest Winners . 27 September 2021 . CLTC . University of California, Berkeley.
  12. News: Fallon . Amy . An innovative game is helping Ugandan women to combat online violence . 27 September 2021 . . August 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210813061810/https://qz.com/ . August 13, 2021.
  13. News: Kannan . Prabha . Neema Iyer: Digital Extractivism in Africa Mirrors Colonial Practices . 7 May 2023 . Stanford HAI . August 15, 2022 . en.
  14. News: Osuagwu . Prince . Nigeria: Digital Ambassadors - Policy to Elevate Over One Million Young School Girls to Tech . . 21 July 2022 . . March 9, 2022. Gale.
  15. News: Iyer . Neema . Reflecting on My Journey as Founder and Leader . 19 November 2023 . neemaiyer.com . 2 Aug 2023 . en-AU.
  16. News: Quartz Africa Innovators 2021: Female innovators lead the way . 27 September 2021 . . Yahoo . September 22, 2021.
  17. News: Olupot . Nathan Ernest . CODE Announces Winners For The Inaugural Digital Equality Awards . 27 September 2021 . PC Tech Magazine . July 23, 2021.
  18. News: DCSL Names Practitioner Fellows 2021-22 . 27 September 2021 . Stanford PACS . January 14, 2021.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Neema Iyer".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.