Hey everyone!
My name is Funda and I am a recent law school graduate from the University of Southampton. I am passionate about helping others and a strong believer that every person deserves to be treated with fairness and equality. I have a special interest in human rights law which is what drew me to participate in the HEX Great Global Challenge 2021.
The HEX Great Global Challenge 2021 is a 6 day experience that trains you to lead and help you stand out in the virtual talent market. During this challenge you are collaborating and building relationships with global university peers, navigating time zones, using cutting edge workplace technology, building teamwork and communication skills, learning innovating mindsets, global, interdisciplinary, social and community awareness. Most importantly, you are building your network with industry professionals from around the world!
The ‘Challenge’ my team and I tackled this past week was proposing a tech-enabled solution to ‘Protect Human Rights in a Post-Truth World’. My team and I specifically focused on the influence the media has on people’s opinions in relation to global news. Our goal was to create a website that ensured all resources and information were being provided regarding a news headline, in order to provide users (like you) to become educated and aware of the news before forming a biased or non-factual opinion.
Throughout the week, we participated in expert masterclasses from tech professionals, had access to mentoring sessions with global mentors in data privacy, economics, social media, machine learning, technology and policy and health. We conducted research to support our business model in order to ideate and create a ‘solution’ to help address the growing crisis of social disenfranchisement and privacy loss in the news media. Our final prototype was a website called the ‘Global Scoop’ where we made available all resources for a particular news headline.
My tips for students wanting to take part in this opportunity in the future are:
- Be open-minded and step out of your comfort zone
- Make the most of your mentoring sessions and panel discussions
- Take part in the workshops
This experience brought me an enormous insight into the overlap between technology, the law and human rights. Not only did I learn about technological methods to address human rights issues, but I made lifetime friends and professional connections! I have really enjoyed my time participating in this Challenge tackling human rights issues and would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to make new friendships and professional connections globally, learn about innovative methods to address inequalities and most importantly, to make a beneficial impact in the world while having fun!
Funda