Tech for Good Live

This Tech for Good Live podcast is a three-part series about WorkerTech, made in conjunction with our friends at Bethnal Green Ventures. In this second episode we talk about the importance of workers having a voice. The importance of employees being able to support one another, to organise and take shared action. As union membership declines and tech becomes ever more integral to work and our dail...

This Tech for Good Live podcast is a three-part series about WorkerTech, made in conjunction with our friends at Bethnal Green Ventures. In this first episode we explore what WorkerTech is and why we should care about it. We question whether the very nature of work is changing due to technology, and find out what real-world effect artificial intelligence and automation are having on workers in the...

It's Christmas in the studio, we have mince pies, port and other festive treats. So get the fire on, grab your favourite blanket, and prepare for what will be the highlight of your Christmas. we're so sorry if that is actually true. Joining us for this festive treat are host Bex , podcast regulars Greg Ashton and Harry Bailey and our guest this week Hilary Stephenson , Founder MD of Sigma .   Thin...

This is the final episode in a special series in partnership with The Federation , exploring ethics in tech. In this episode, we talk about 'Functional Sovereignty' with Frank Pasquale . He talks to us about the concepts in his book The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms Behind Money & Information   About Frank: Frank Pasquale's scholarship and public speaking translates complex law and...

This week find drama, intrigue, mystery and stolen data as the gang delve into what’s going on with Amazon’s HQ, take a look at the folks who have collaborated on a new Charity Digital Code of Practise and find out why Facebook are mad about their data being stolen...lolz. Joining host Fay Schofield are Greg Ashton , Harry Bailey and Producer Paul .   Things we mentioned: Stat of the week Amazon H...

The team break free from our Manchester studio and head down south to the glorious Bath Digital Festival. Regulars @rebeccawho and @jonnyraeevans are joined by Dr Katarzyna (Kathy) Stawarz - Research Associate at University of Bristol and Jessica Lascar - Product Designer at Monzo. We talk about design ethics and where ethical responsibility should lie when building digital products. That’s not al...

This podcast is a three part series about the Circular Economy we worked on with our friends at Dsposal . It’s part of The Disruptive Innovation Festival 2018 . Is The Circular Economy a model that can save us from planetary crisis or just a nice idea that will never work? In this episode we consider Space Age thinking. Which is great - because we love space. We hear that a Blade-Runner-esq future...

This podcast is a three part series about the Circular Economy we worked on with our friends at Dsposal . It’s part of The Disruptive Innovation Festival 2018 . Is The Circular Economy a model that can save us from planetary crisis or just a nice idea that will never work? In this episode we look at the real world examples from some of the UKs biggest retailers. We also find out that Apple have a...

This podcast is a three part series about the Circular Economy we worked on with our friends at Dsposal . It’s part of The Disruptive Innovation Festival 2018 . Is The Circular Economy a model that can save us from planetary crisis or just a nice idea that will never work?   This podcast wouldn’t exist without Tom Passmore and Sophie Walker from Dsposal. Music has been graciously provided by Georg...

Ben White is in the presenting hotseat this week, welcoming Tash Willcocks from Hyper Island to discuss some of the latest goings-on across the Tech For Good scene. They're joined by the Big Lottery Fund's Jonny Rae-Evans , The Brooke's Fay Schofield and Tom Passmore from our favourite waste crime combatants Dsposal (everyone has a favourite waste crime combatant, right!?)   Things we mentioned: C...

This week the gang ( @rebeccawho , @harrybailey , @jonnyraeevans and @paul_yakabowski ) bang their heads against the cushioned walls of the studio as they talk about sexual harassment in big tech. Turns out that if sexual harassment is your business, then - annoyingly - business is booming. In honour of Anti-Bullying Week, we discuss the rise of cyberbullying it’s grim effects on society. And that...

This weeks wonderful guest is Eriol Fox , designer at Ushahidi, joining us to discuss knife crime, how this years Budget is tackling the big tech giants and swearing at Piers Morgan (the colossal t*sser) in the name of charity.   Things we mentioned: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46027265 http://www.barnardos.org.uk/news/Children_excluded_from_school_are_at_risk_of_knife_crime/latest-news.htm?ref=...

The wonderful Harry Bailey stepped into Gregs shoes this week to give us our running order using his patented* Tech For Goodness rating system!   Things we mentioned: Contactless topples Chip & Pin as UK's top payment choice [Link] #WeAreNotForSale - Stand in solidarity with victims of modern slavery [Link] Charity Fraud Awareness Week [Link] Google and Harvard team up to use deep learning to...

The gloves are off this week, as the gang are joined by Leanne Griffin , service designer with Cancer Research UK to take on the usual contenders Facebook and Amazon but there is a surprise challenge from WordPress, whose upcoming Gutenberg update is coming under fire for its accessibility issues.   Things we mentioned: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/03/post-oxfam-charities-must-come...

This week the gang are joined by Simon Wilson from DWP Digital. We talk about building inclusive services. We pick our favourites amongst the D&AD Impact pencil winners and get into a heated discussion about the misuse of the word Impact. Can misguided tech decisions shape catastrophic national policies? Is there space in the world for an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Impact award and what doe...

No Bex or guest this week so the gang run rampant...well, they get slightly giddy, not sure they can manage full on rampant. This week is on people donating via SMS and how they just made up the numbers last year. They also take an early look at the big charity campaigns of the year, the always entertaining Elon Musk, before discussing those old white folks who are planning to “save the internet”....

Bex and her Tech For Good Live pals Harry and Sasha are joined by the wonderful Chelsea Slater from Liverpool Girl Geeks and InnovateHer, to talk about the gender pay gap and question Jeff Bezos' motives, our Greg would be proud.   Things we mentioned:   Stat of the week Only 30% of brits know what the gender pay gap is https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/14/only-30-of-brits-know-what-the-gender-pay-gap-i...

This is the fifth in a special series in partnership with The Federation , exploring ethics in tech. In this episode, we talk about 'Toxic Tech' with Sara Wachter-Boettcher . She talks to us about the concepts in her book Technically Wrong, Sexist apps, biased algorithms and other threats of toxic tech . Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do odds are we can...

Three really is the magic number this week with the three amigos taking the reigns as they discuss another thinly veiled attempt to sell stuff disguised as a report, a fantastic new ad campaign from Channel 4 on hate speech and mental health chatbot that’s been getting some great reviews from its users. The three musketeers also took some time to discuss the ethical conundrum of whether to carry o...

The whole gang's back together again, not sure we’ve had them on the same pod since perms were in fashion. They’re also joined by new Tech for Good Live volunteer Amelia who thought she was just coming to chat about helping out and got roped into coming on the pod. Amelia is a cyber security specialist with an interest in GDPR and had no idea what she was letting herself in for. This week the team...

This is the fourth in a special series in partnership with The Federation , exploring ethics in tech. In this episode, we talk about Humanity and Tech with Shannon Vallor. Shannon talks about the concepts in her book Technology And The Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting. If humanity is going to have any real hope of not merely surviving but of flourishing in the 21st Century...

Dsposal are fast becoming a friend of the pod with the gang hosting their second guest from that awesome company, Sophie Walker. Join her in confusion as the gang talk through dodgy research into gender imbalance in AI research, dodgy Jungle Book references and dodgy tax suggestions.   All in all, it’s a pretty dodgy show, probably explains Bex’s random segues.   If you’d like to get in touch with...

This week in Tech for Good land we have regulars Bex, Jonny and Greg, who are joined by Tom Steinberg. Besides being an optimist, Tom leads on digital at the Big Lottery Fund and founded the active citizen organisation My Society which created such awesome things as Fix My Street and They Work For You.   This week the gang talk about the value of design in our economy, Jonny was delighted to disco...

The gang are almost back to full strength this week, with the exception of Greg who continues to roam the countryside on a quest for fulfilment, and also for work. This week Jonny and Paul are particularly excited to learn that they could run a marathon for charity without putting down their Playstation controllers. We explore the potential impact of how the lack of digital skills is damaging to a...

Another change to the lineup in this holiday season, Bex & Jonny are back from their American adventure and producer Paul is back on the buttons after a trip to Barcelona (spoiler alert, Barcelona is a nice place to go on holiday, who knew!?) This week, Sacha Wynne and Fay Schofield ably deputise for Ben and Greg as the team re-visit CASTs digital principles, the rise of employee activism at b...