In India, A Call To App Designers: Help Protect Our Women

What’s the Latest Development?

Last week, Nasscom, a trade group representing technology companies, announced a contest inviting entrants to submit mobile phone applications that can be used by women to alert authorities when they are being threatened. A shortlist of submissions will be shown to Nasscom members, who can then choose to adopt and develop the applications. Although similar apps already exist, Nasscom member Vikram Talwar says that the contest “will primarily be done within the industry to focus on this issue of women’s safety…hopefully we can then share these apps with other parts of the economy.”

What’s the Big Idea?

The contest announcement was in response to a recommendation by a government-led panel specifically set up to address the issue of women’s safety after the rape and subsequent death of a New Delhi student. Nasscom in particular has been very vocal about protecting women, since women make up significant portions of the country’s technology industry. In addition to the contest announcement, the trade group released a best-practices document that it says could be used in other industries to help them with improving women’s safety.

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Read it at The Wall Street Journal