On March 8th, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day, though a few major tech firms also want to show how much they care. Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, and Amazon announced an IWD initiative to honour the women of the world.
Multiple experiences will be available on the Facebook platform to celebrate IWD 2017 this year. Some of these include the artwork users can view at the top of their newsfeeds, using the #SheMeansBusiness hashtag to share your post on Facebook Live, and lastly, a live streamed main event!
Facebook is also live stream its IWD event for 24 hours, which will include the Honourable Bardish Chagger, minister of small business and tourism in conversation with Equal Voice’s Daughters of the Vote about being a female entrepreneur
Microsoft
In celebration of IWD 2017, Microsoft released a new video challenging girls to stay in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). According to data from the World Economic Forum, only 16 percent of female students currently graduate from STEM subjects.
In addition, Microsoft and LinkedIn launched a new tool to demonstrate how girls can pursue their passions called The Career Explorer. This tool is inspired by the knowledge that by 2018, it’s predicted that 2.4 million STEM jobs will go unfilled.
Happy International Women's Day!! #womeninSTEMM #BeBoldForChange #IWD2017 pic.twitter.com/kNDxh5tUit
— Women in STEMM Aust (@WomenSciAUST) March 7, 2017
To celebrate the women that use its platform, Twitter launched several hashtags in honour of IWD 2017. Some of these include #BeBoldForChange, #SheInspiresMe, and #SheLeadsIndia, for Indian users of the platform.
In addition, Twitter has partnered with the digital video storytelling platform @SheThePeopleTV, to host a #BlueRoom session to talk about the issues faced by women in media and technology. The sessions will stream live from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m on the @TwitterIndia and @SheThePeopleTV handles
Is there better way for Google to show its appreciation for women than to dedicate a doodle to them? In the ultimate Google gesture, March 8th’s doodle will represent IWD 2017 by honouring some of the female pioneers that paved the way for today’s women.
The doodle features 13 women of wide ranging ethnicities from different periods in history who would each go on to make the world a better place for women in their own way. While not all the women showcased are household names, they’ve each made their mark.
Amazon
Last but not least, Amazon also planned a little something to highlight the one day a year dedicated to empowering women. While this event seems a little more low key, it seems like a design group within the Amazon giant is behind the gathering.
The Amazon Design Leadership Group organized an International Women’s Day #BeBoldForChange Celebration. The event will be co-hosted by Amazon Design Leadership and Women in Design at Amazon. We don’t know very much about the event, but it seems relatively small and is taking place in Seattle.
