Universidad de Chile Academic Patricia Peña Was Recognized as One of 50 Leading Women in Technology and Telecommunications

The academic and co-researcher of the Fondecyt Project was recognized by AMUTT as an outstanding academic and expert in digital communication, gender and technologies.

Last Monday, April 6th, the Association of Women in Telecommunications and Technology (AMUTT) held the event “Female Leadership for the Digital Industry”, in which 50 leading women of the industry of telecommunications and technology in Chile were recognized. Academic Patricia Peña was selected in the category “Academia and Research”.

The co-researcher of Fondecyt Project 1230748 studies the relationship and tensions between public policies and technologies, media and digital communication from a gender, inclusion and social participation standpoint. In particular, she has analyzed digital feminist activisms with a gender perspective and their impact on the development of digital projects. In this sense, she carried out the project Sof+IA, a Feminist Hearing System that operates via a chatbot to talk about digital violence and harassment against women in order to provide support or guidance in these cases.

Additionally, in 2023, she was a member of the Advisory Commission Against Disinformation, promoted by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (MinCiencia) and the General Secretariat of Government (SEGEGOB) of President Gabriel Boric. Its purpose was to write two reports to address the phenomenon of disinformation in Chile and provide recommendations for public policy development.

Peña is a journalist from Universidad Diego Portales, Master of Social Communication from Universidad de Chile and Master Research New Media, Information and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. She is currently a teaching academic at the Faculty of Communication and Image of Universidad de Chile, imparting undergraduate and graduate journalism and digital communication courses. She is also coordinator of the Diploma in Digital Communication Projects.

She is part of Fundación Datos Protegidos and founding partner of the Internet Society (ISOC) Chile Chapter, as well as founder and member of the advisory council of the Ingeniosas Program, aimed at encouraging vocation and participation of girls and adolescents in science and technologies.

The Association of Women in Telecommunications and Technology is an organization that seeks to elevate the role of women in this market, making specialties and competencies visible and building leadership and opinion.