NewsMachine AB Gender Equality Plan (GEP)

Company: NewsMachine AB
Registered office: Storgatan 44, 114 55 Stockholm, Sweden
Plan period: 2026-2029
Owner: Peter Braroe, Chief Executive Officer, NewsMachine AB
Applies to: All employees, managers, board members, contractors with long-term assignments, and recruitment processes in Sweden and, where relevant, NewsMachine’s APAC operations

1. Purpose

This Gender Equality Plan establishes NewsMachine AB’s objectives, responsibilities, measures, and monitoring arrangements for advancing gender equality across the company. It is designed to align with the Horizon Europe framework for Gender Equality Plans, including the four mandatory process-related requirements and the five recommended thematic areas set out by the European Commission.

NewsMachine AB is a Swedish technology and media intelligence company providing media monitoring, press release distribution, analytics, newsletters, and related AI-enabled services. As a growing business with in-house product and development capabilities and international operations, NewsMachine recognizes that gender equality is relevant to recruitment, leadership, product development, workplace culture, customer outcomes, and long-term business performance.

2. Commitment

NewsMachine AB is committed to:

  • ensuring equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and treatment regardless of gender, gender identity, or gender expression;
  • preventing discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, victimisation, and gender-based violence;
  • promoting a safe, respectful, inclusive, and family-friendly working environment;
  • improving gender balance in hiring, decision-making, and career development;
  • using evidence, transparent follow-up, and management accountability to measure progress; and
  • integrating gender considerations, where relevant, into product design, AI-supported services, communication, and research and innovation activities.

This plan complements NewsMachine AB’s obligations under Swedish law, including the Discrimination Act, applicable work environment rules, and company HR policies.

3. Horizon Europe Alignment

This plan is structured so that NewsMachine AB can demonstrate the four process-related requirements expected under the Horizon Europe GEP framework:

  1. Publication: this document is formally approved, signed by top management, and published on the company’s website and/or intranet.
  2. Dedicated resources: responsibilities, working time, and implementation ownership are assigned in this plan.
  3. Data collection and monitoring: the company will maintain sex-disaggregated workforce data and review progress annually against indicators.
  4. Training: managers and staff will receive awareness-raising and training on gender equality and unconscious gender biases.

It also addresses the five thematic areas recommended by the European Commission:

  1. work-life balance and organisational culture;
  2. gender balance in leadership and decision-making;
  3. gender equality in recruitment and career progression;
  4. integration of the gender dimension into research and innovation content; and
  5. measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment.

4. Scope

This plan applies to:

  • recruitment, onboarding, pay review, promotion, and career development;
  • leadership appointments, project leadership, and decision-making structures;
  • day-to-day workplace conduct, internal communication, and meeting culture;
  • work environment, grievance handling, and anti-harassment procedures; and
  • relevant product, AI, analytics, content, customer research, and innovation activities.

5. Governance and Responsibilities

5.1 Executive accountability

The CEO has overall responsibility for approving, sponsoring, and enforcing this plan.

5.2 Gender Equality Lead

NewsMachine AB shall designate a Gender Equality Lead. Unless otherwise assigned, this role should sit with the CEO or an HR/responsible manager appointed by the CEO. The Lead is responsible for:

  • coordinating implementation;
  • maintaining the annual action tracker;
  • collecting and reviewing workforce data;
  • preparing an annual progress report for management; and
  • ensuring training and policy updates are delivered.

5.3 Management responsibilities

All managers are responsible for implementing this plan in their teams, especially in hiring, workload planning, performance review, leave management, and response to inappropriate conduct.

5.4 Employee responsibilities

All employees are expected to contribute to an inclusive work environment, complete mandatory training, and report concerns through the company’s reporting channels.

6. Dedicated Resources

To implement this plan, NewsMachine AB commits to:

  • allocating named ownership for implementation and reporting;
  • reserving management and HR time for annual data review, action planning, and follow-up;
  • providing budget for training, policy review, and, where needed, external advisory support;
  • embedding equality considerations into recruitment and people management workflows; and
  • including equality-related follow-up in annual management review.

For a company of NewsMachine AB’s size, implementation may be proportionate, but responsibility must remain explicit and documented.

7. Baseline Review and Data Collection

Within the first three months after approval of this plan, NewsMachine AB will complete a baseline review covering, as far as lawful and practicable:

  • total headcount by gender;
  • distribution by function, seniority, and contract type;
  • distribution in management and decision-making roles;
  • recruitment pipeline data, including applicant, shortlist, and hire composition where available;
  • starting salary and salary review outcomes by comparable role group;
  • promotion and internal mobility outcomes;
  • uptake of parental leave and flexible work arrangements; and
  • reported incidents relating to discrimination, harassment, or other misconduct.

The company will:

  • keep data in aggregated form where appropriate to protect privacy;
  • review indicators at least annually;
  • include results in an annual internal report; and
  • update actions when evidence shows gaps or unintended effects.

8. Training and Awareness

NewsMachine AB will provide regular awareness-raising and training on gender equality and unconscious gender biases. At minimum:

  • all managers and other decision-makers involved in recruitment, promotion, pay review, team leadership, procurement of external expertise, or project governance will receive training on gender equality, unconscious gender biases, non-discriminatory recruitment, inclusive leadership, and handling harassment concerns;
  • all employees and long-term contractors will receive onboarding or annual refresher training on gender equality, unconscious gender biases, respectful conduct, anti-harassment expectations, and reporting routes; and
  • staff involved in product, AI, analytics, or research and innovation work will receive guidance on identifying gender bias in datasets, assumptions, language, and user outcomes where relevant.

Training completion will be recorded and reviewed annually. NewsMachine AB will retain evidence of implementation, such as training plans, invitations, agendas, attendance records, learning materials, or contracts with external experts.

9. Objectives and Actions by Thematic Area

9.1 Work-life balance and organisational culture

Objective: maintain a respectful, flexible, and inclusive workplace in which employees of all genders can contribute and progress.

Measures:

  • maintain clear access to flexible work arrangements where role requirements allow;
  • ensure that use of parental leave, care leave, or flexible schedules does not negatively affect performance assessment or promotion opportunity;
  • set expectations for inclusive meetings, respectful communication, and balanced participation;
  • review internal policies, language, and benefits to ensure they are gender-inclusive; and
  • include equality and inclusion topics in onboarding and internal communication.

Targets for 2026-2029:

  • all employees informed annually of available flexibility and leave policies;
  • 100% of managers trained on inclusive people management;
  • annual employee feedback includes questions on inclusion, fairness, and psychological safety.

9.2 Gender balance in leadership and decision-making

Objective: improve gender balance in formal and informal leadership positions.

Measures:

  • review gender distribution across management, team leads, senior specialists, and project leadership roles each year;
  • require mixed-gender candidate consideration for leadership vacancies where feasible;
  • identify internal talent development opportunities for underrepresented genders;
  • rotate visibility and leadership opportunities in meetings, product initiatives, and external representation; and
  • discuss succession planning with attention to balanced candidate pipelines.

Targets for 2026-2029:

  • annual review of gender composition in leadership roles completed and documented;
  • at least one concrete talent development action per year aimed at improving balanced progression into leadership;
  • no leadership appointment process proceeds without documented consideration of a balanced candidate pool, unless impossible due to applicant availability.

9.3 Gender equality in recruitment and career progression

Objective: ensure fair recruitment, pay, development, and promotion practices.

Measures:

  • use gender-neutral language in job advertisements and candidate communication;
  • standardize recruitment criteria and interview structure for comparable roles;
  • encourage diverse candidate sourcing channels;
  • document hiring decisions against defined criteria;
  • review salary-setting and annual pay development for unexplained disparities;
  • ensure performance and promotion discussions use transparent criteria; and
  • provide equal access to training, stretch assignments, and customer-facing opportunities.

Targets for 2026-2029:

  • 100% of vacancies use standardized role criteria and inclusive wording review;
  • annual salary review includes a check for unjustified gender-related differences;
  • promotion and development decisions are documented against stated criteria.

9.4 Integration of the gender dimension into research and innovation content, product development, and content workflows

Objective: where relevant, reduce the risk that NewsMachine products, analytics, AI-enabled services, and innovation work reproduce gender bias or overlook gendered user impacts.

Measures:

  • consider gender-related impacts when designing or refining AI-supported functions, search, matching, analytics, and content workflows;
  • review training data, prompts, taxonomies, and evaluation practices for obvious bias risks where technically and legally feasible;
  • encourage teams to test assumptions about users, sources, and communication patterns that may create unequal outcomes;
  • include gender-sensitive considerations in customer research, market analysis, and product experimentation when relevant to the use case; and
  • where NewsMachine participates in Horizon Europe or other R&I projects, include gender dimension assessment in project planning where required by the call or topic.

Targets for 2026-2029:

  • product and development teams discuss bias and inclusion risks in at least one documented review per year;
  • all externally funded R&I projects are screened for whether gender dimension integration is required or relevant;
  • material product decisions with user-impact implications include a documented consideration of fairness or bias where proportionate.

9.5 Measures against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment

Objective: maintain zero tolerance for harassment, sexual harassment, intimidation, retaliation, and other gender-based misconduct.

Measures:

  • maintain written reporting and escalation routes for misconduct;
  • ensure employees can report concerns to a manager, HR/responsible manager, or another designated contact;
  • investigate concerns promptly, impartially, and confidentially, with appropriate documentation;
  • prohibit retaliation against anyone who reports or participates in an investigation;
  • communicate expected standards of conduct for physical workplaces, online meetings, travel, conferences, and customer events; and
  • review incidents and lessons learned annually to improve prevention.

Targets for 2026-2029:

  • all staff receive annual information on reporting channels and anti-harassment rules;
  • all reported cases are logged and handled under a documented process;
  • management reviews incident trends annually, even if the number of cases is zero.

10. Implementation Timeline

First 3 months after approval

  • appoint the Gender Equality Lead;
  • approve and publish the plan;
  • complete baseline data review;
  • confirm reporting channels and case-handling process; and
  • schedule manager training.

Within 12 months

  • complete first annual training cycle;
  • implement recruitment and promotion documentation standards;
  • conduct first annual leadership and pay review from a gender equality perspective; and
  • issue first internal progress report.

Years 2-3

  • repeat data review and reporting annually;
  • update measures based on results;
  • strengthen actions in any area showing persistent imbalance or risk; and
  • prepare a revised plan for the next cycle before the end of 2029.

11. Monitoring, Indicators, and Review

The following indicators should be reviewed annually, proportionate to company size and data availability:

  • gender distribution across total workforce and by function;
  • gender distribution in management and project leadership roles;
  • recruitment conversion rates by gender, where data is available;
  • salary review outcomes and identified pay gaps by role group;
  • promotions, training participation, and internal mobility by gender;
  • parental leave and flexible work uptake;
  • completion rate for required training; and
  • number and type of reported misconduct cases and resolution status in aggregated form.

The CEO and Gender Equality Lead will review progress annually and decide whether corrective actions are needed. An annual internal report will summarise indicator results, implementation status, identified gaps, and any corrective measures. A revised version of this plan should be adopted at least every three years, or earlier if the company changes substantially in size, structure, or funding profile.

12. Approval

Approved by NewsMachine AB management on: 17 March 2016

Title: Chief Executive Officer
Signed by: Peter Braroe