Lenovo, championed by Girl Up, the gender equality initiative of the United Nation Foundation (UNF), and filmmaker Ava DuVernay, launches New Realities – a dynamic art project celebrating women who are using smart technology to showcase and solve global social issues and empower empathy.
New Realities features immersive, first-person cinematic experiences that help give a voice to difference-making women in 10 markets around the world during a time of global upheaval in the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of International Day of the Girl (celebrated on Sunday, October 11). The project comes off the heels of new research conducted by Lenovo that reveals technology has made people more empathetic toward different viewpoints in their communities.
Captured over the last four months using 360-degree video storytelling, New Realities chronicle the individual journeys of a courageous, diverse group of 10 young women using technology to achieve their dreams, such as supporting a social cause, creating thought-provoking art/music, or providing a desperately needed service in their community. The films help give each woman their own voice and shine a light on the role smart technology plays in furthering their missions to drive empathy and a positive change in society. The films’ changemakers hail from Brazil, China, France, Germany India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the UK and the US.
Ashwini Doddalingappanavar, the female protagonist for the Indian movie, commented “I am extremely delighted to represent India as part of Lenovo’s New Realities initiative. My story is a journey about how I had to struggle and fight my way through family and the society at large to pursue my dreams. I went against my father’s wishes and enrolled in a skill training institute in Hubli after which I got placed in Meghshala, an NGO supported by Lenovo. Today, I train my village schoolteachers to effectively utilize technology in education. By sharing my journey, I hope I can inspire other girls in India
pursue their talent and show that we are unstoppable. According to me, women empowerment is to gather courage and break the barriers of society and keep moving forward.”
In addition to the films’ chronicling the women’s missions, Lenovo – in partnership with Girl Up – is funding $100,000 in grants for these young women to pursue fields of study that align with their goals. The young women have received mentorship through a newly created Global Ambassadors Program – featuring mentors’ hand-selected by Ava DuVernay’s team at ARRAY and access to resources from Lenovo, ARRAY, and Girl Up. Each of the women has also received Lenovo and Motorola technology to support their mission, such as the enterprise-grade ThinkPad™ X1 Yoga™ laptop for coding, the Yoga C940 for music or the Motorola Edge for communication and on-the-go computing.
Ava DuVernay, an American filmmaker, commented: “I am eager to stand with Lenovo to highlight the strong work of ten talented young women around the world who have used technology to bring their missions to life in extraordinary ways. My colleagues at ARRAY and I created this mentorship as part of a vital effort to empower the next generation of women leaders. I applaud each of these young women for sharing their stories with the world through Lenovo’s New Realities. At such a pivotal time in our world’s history, it is imperative that we hold hands and march toward a more inclusive society where all are valued and embraced.”
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COMING INTO VIEW: A NEW, MORE EMPATHETIC WORLD
Research Lenovo conducted alongside New Realities reinforces a need and desire for empathy amid a global crisis and underscores the true importance of the work being done by the project’s 10 influential changemakers. True to its mission of providing smarter technology for all, Lenovo understands the importance of hearing and portraying diverse points of view and believes smart technology is driving empathy around the world.
Of the 15,000+ global respondents in 10 markets around the globe, two-thirds state that technology has made people more empathetic towards different viewpoints in their communities as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Key takeaways from the findings, detailed in the New Realities: Empathy and Technology Report, include:
o More Appreciation for Tech in New Normal: The new research highlights a change in people’s relationships with tech all over the world, especially during the pandemic. 79% of respondents say they feel more comfortable with their personal tech capabilities after COVID 19, with another 79% believing that they will be more appreciative of technology overall.
o Tech Empowers Change Agents to Have a Voice: A majority (73%) of respondents believe technological advancements have a positive impact on the ability of young people to engage with major societal issues.
o Younger Generations Empowered By Tech To Better Understand One Another: The optimism for technology bridging the empathy, the gap is felt more widely in younger generations, where a little over three quarters (76%) of Gen Z and 71% of Millennials participating in this research agreed that during the pandemic, technology has made them more empathetic to their communities as well as enabling them to put themselves in the shoes of others that might have very different lives to them.
o Tech Companies Should Power Change: Nine-in-ten global participants (89%) believe tech companies need to change in a post-COVID-19 world to use their tech to help address major societal issues
Prashant Chaudhary
An android fan and A Computer Engineer who fell in love with the world of Internet Marketing. Worked on different SEO techniques for small to large Internet properties at Initial days of my Career. I am in love with my passion for Blogging and running several blogs in variety of category.
