Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of innovation, reshaping how actors design and deliver services worldwide. For example, two-thirds of OECD countries report using AI to enhance government’s efficiency and responsiveness. However, its potential to close gender gaps and expand women’s access to quality services remains underused. Women continue to face structural barriers in accessing essential services such as healthcare, legal aid, and social protection, areas where the effective use of AI could help design more responsive, fit-for-purpose solutions that meet diverse needs. In addition, AI systems trained on biased data can perpetuate gender stereotypes in service delivery. This theme will explore how AI can be leveraged to close gender gaps, enhance access to services and support empowerment of women and girls. It will also highlight strategies to mitigate bias, including the importance of diverse data, transparent algorithms.

Changing demographics across OECD countries, including ageing populations and average falling fertility rates , are placing growing pressure on care systems. At the same time, the unequal distribution of unpaid care continues to limit women’s economic participation. Women remain disproportionately represented in both paid and unpaid care work, often occupying lower-paid, informal or part-time roles, which heightens their vulnerability to economic shocks and limits career progression. This theme will address how digital technologies and data can transform care delivery, support a more equitable division of responsibilities, and empower individuals to make informed choices about work and family life. From tech-enabled care services to online platforms supporting remote and flexible work, the theme will spotlight forward-looking policies that boost productivity, enhance well-being, and support growth in the digital age.

AI is revolutionising productivity and accelerating a structural shift in labour markets, posing both risks and opportunities to gender equality. Women are disproportionately concentrated in occupations most exposed to automation and remain underrepresented in fast-growing, high-value technology sectors. Left unaddressed, these dynamics risk triggering large-scale job losses for women, widening employment and wage gaps, and reversing hard-won gains in economic empowerment. Greater participation of women in the tech sector could unlock untapped human capital, boost innovation, and contribute to economic growth. Evidence shows that diverse teams enhance problem-solving and strengthen the design and governance of digital technologies. This requires expanding women’s access to digital skills, STEM education and leadership opportunities as a strategic investment in productivity, resilience and human-centred digital transformation. Yet, significant gaps persist. While the gender gap in Internet use is below 3 percentage points across almost all OECD countries, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) women remain 15% less likely than men to use mobile internet. Additionally, 244 million fewer women than men are online globally. Persistent gaps in digital skills and STEM graduates limit women’s leadership in high-growth tech sectors. By the age of 15, less than 1.5% of girls across the OECD on average aspire to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) careers, compared to almost 10% of boys and twice as many young men as women have learned programming. This theme will explore how to build a more growth-enabling tech talent pipeline, close gaps and underlying barriers in education and training, and inspire early interest in tech careers. It will also discuss how addressing these divides requires not only national action but also international collaboration, with development co-operation playing an important role in supporting skills development, digital infrastructure and inclusive policies worldwide.

Digital innovation drives economic growth and social change, with entrepreneurs introducing technologies and business models to meet emerging needs. Yet many entrepreneurs – notably women entrepreneurs – face structural barriers (e.g. restrictive social norms, limited access to finance, networks and advanced digital skills) that hinder their ability to seize the opportunities in technology-intensive sectors. In the EU, women represent just 18% of self-employed workers in ICT, compared to 34% in other sectors, a pattern mirrored globally. This theme will showcase women’s impact as founders and digital leaders and examine how supporting women-led tech enterprises can drive innovation and meet societal needs. Discussions will identify effective support systems for women digital entrepreneurs, including financing mechanisms, business networks, incubators and accelerators and digital platforms that help women scale their ventures and compete in global markets. It will also examine how institutional conditions, attitudes and culture influence the emergence of successful women entrepreneurs and how to increase the participation of women in STEM education and how to bring them on into entrepreneurship.

As digital transformation reshapes economies and societies, it offers major opportunities to advance gender equality, while also generating new risks related to inclusion, safety, and rights. Governments today have access to a wide range of digital tools to design and implement public policies in support of gender equality, grounded in the rights of all women and girls in their diversity; to improve women’s access to employment, healthcare, and education; to strengthen their protection against gender-based violence; and to enhance both the effectiveness and reach of public action. This session will bring a G7+ perspective and will examine how countries can leverage the opportunities of digital transformation to deliver tangible progress on gender equality – moving beyond the assumption that digital change is inherently gender-neutral. Drawing on recent evidence and national experiences, the discussion will showcase how governments can design inclusive digital policies that expand opportunities, address persistent gender inequalities, and prevent and mitigate risks, ensuring that digital and gender equality policies reinforce one another. The session will also highlight the added value of multilateral co-operation. It will explore how multilateral frameworks and dialogue platforms such as the G7+ can foster better alignment between digital and gender equality agendas, facilitate the sharing of good practices, and identify common priorities, in order to harness the digital transition as a lever for advancing gender equality.

As our lives become increasingly digital, gender-based violence (GBV) is evolving and expanding worldwide. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF-GBV) – including cyberstalking, deepfakes, and image-based abuse - is a growing threat, particularly for women, silencing voices and discouraging engagement in civic, political, and economic spheres. Globally, 38% of women report personally experiencing some form of TF-GBV. Yet public perception remains uneven, including among younger generations. While 83% of young women aged 18–24 reject the notion that women should expect abuse for expressing their views online, only 66% of young men share this view. This theme will examine the specific ways TF-GBV targets women in public life, review its impacts on democratic participation, and explore effective pathways forward. Discussions will highlight survivor-centred approaches, legal and regulatory innovations, and promising practices from governments, civil society, academia, and technology actors. By mapping risks and showcasing solutions, the theme will outline how to build safer digital environments that enable women to lead, participate, and thrive in public life.

Digital technologies play a central role in children’s lives, creating new spaces where they learn, play, socialise and create, and where their rights must also be respected and protected. Yet as digital participation grows, children face a broad spectrum of online risks that may have lasting negative effects, eroding well-being and trust in digital environments. These include child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) online, exposure to harmful content and behaviours, as well as reduced face-to-face interactions, negative impacts on sleep, physical activity, and overall physical and mental health. Risks often differ by gender: boys are more exposed to financial sexual extortion and exploitation on gaming platforms, while girls are more likely to be victims of online abuse, including AI-generated CSEA, and experience higher rates of cyberbullying, anxiety and body image concerns. Concerns are also emerging for all children about the normalisation of technology-enabled coercive control through the pervasive use of surveillance and location-sharing tools. This theme will address how early digital experiences shape vulnerability over time and discuss how to achieve a safer and more trusted digital environment for children.

Online spaces are not gender-neutral: they often reproduce and amplify restrictive masculinities. Men are still expected to assert dominance in debates, control narratives, or silence women’s voices online. These norms limit women’s and girls’ empowerment and, as shown by the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), mirror deeper patterns of discrimination offline. Algorithmic design and platform incentives may encourage polarising content, aggressive speech and exclusionary behaviour, both online and offline. Without better data on restrictive masculine norms, especially amongst young men, and targeted efforts to address it, online spaces risk entrenching and magnifying the very inequalities we aim to overcome. This theme will explore strategies and the data needed to disrupt these dynamics and foster inclusive online spaces. Panellists will share evidence on media literacy, education, algorithmic accountability, and policy innovation, and showcase initiatives that engage men and boys as allies in reshaping masculinities. Confronting restrictive norms, both offline and online, is essential to build safer, fairer, and more empowering digital communities for all.