Gender and Digital platforms:
Beauty Workers In India

Ms Cristina Colom has developed her professional career in the fields of corporate communication, marketing, brand and reputation, media, and crisis management. She combines extensive experience in multilateral organisations such as the European Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), along with a long career in both the public administration (Generalitat de Catalunya) and large corporations such as the international energy company Shell. She holds a degree in Economics by the University of Barcelona, MA in European Affairs by the University of Exeter and a post-degree on Community Management and Social Media by the IL3-UB.
Cristina is currently leading Digital Future Society, an initiative from Mobile World Capital Barcelona supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation that seeks to build an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future in the digital era.

Industrial Engineer by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and PDD by IESE, Carlos Grau has a long career in the field of communication and information technologies, as well as in the development of digital business. After holding various sales and marketing management positions in companies in the ICT sector such as Hewlett-Packard, Accenture, Sun Microsystems or Telefonica, Grau joined Microsoft as general manager in Catalonia.

In recent years, Carlos Grau has focused his activity in the field of innovation, where he has led projects such as Biid, a startup focused on mobile identity, or Step One Ventures, a venture capital that invests in technology companies with high potential of growth. Grau has also been a mentor for entrepreneurs through Barcelona Activa or the Startupbootcamp IoT and Data acceleration program, promoted in collaboration with MWCapital.

In November 2017, Carlos Grau was appointed CEO of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation (MWCapital).

Diplomatic. General Director of Casa Asia and representative of The Asia-Europe Foundation

Current Spanish Ambassador to India. Diplomat since 1988, he has been to various destinations such as Angola, the Soviet Union, Equatorial Guinea, France and Algiers, where he currently resides. Between 2004 and 2006 he held the position of Ambassador of Spain to UNESCO. He has combined this professional career with his passion for writing, which has led him to publish various essays and novels.

Sanjay Verma has grown up in India's commercial capital Mumbai. A state rank holder in Higher Secondary from Wilson College, he graduated with distinction from Mumbai University's Jai Hind College with an Honours degree in Economics. He holds a M.A. in International Studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a Fellowship in International Studies from the University Grant Commission of India.

Olivia Blanchard leads the Digital Future Society Think Tank’s research on the Future of Work.
Her work draws on previous experience in research and advocacy in the fields of humanitarian aid, global health, human rights and gender. She has a degree in political sciences (University of Bristol) and training in research methods (London School of Economics).

Balaji Parthasarathy’s work broadly explores the relationship between technological change, economic globalisation and social transformation. One strand of his work examines the impacts of public policies and firm strategies on the social and spatial organisation of production in the ICT industry. Another strand examines how ICTs are deployed in various domains of economic activity to transform social relationships, especially in underprivileged contexts.

Preeti Mudliar’s recent work has examined gendered internet access, biometric welfare systems, and platform gig work and is published regularly in top-ranked Human Computer Interaction (HCI) publications. Methodologically, her work is informed by qualitative and ethnographic methods with field immersion, and an instinct for data and stories that is shaped by her past work in journalism. She has an undergraduate degree (the University of Pune, India) and a PhD in Communication Studies (the University of Texas, Austin).