Annie Legge | TechExeter Conference 2024

Tech4Good Takover Session 1: Panel

60 min panel Entry level 🚀 Business + Digital

Co-presenting with Alex Mecklenburg

Tech4Good take over the business track with a panel session & workshop

Tech4Good South West is a member network focused on the intentional use of technology to drive positive outcomes for people and planet.

Tech4Good South West amplifies the positive impact of technology across the region by building a vibrant tech-for-good community. Our mission is to address how technology can support society and tackle the unintended consequences of the digital age. We focus on raising awareness, fostering collaboration, and promoting sustainable approaches to technology.

Our key focus areas include leveraging technology for societal benefit, empowering communities, promoting responsible and ethical tech, and driving regional development to address digital inclusion. Through regular events, workshops, and an active member platform, we are building a collaborative environment where people learn from one another and co-create impactful projects. Ultimately, our goal is to position the South West as a leader in the national tech-for-good movement.

Takeover Theme: Responsible Technology - beyond buzzword and towards a concrete business consideration

Responsible technology has outgrown the ‘buzzword’ stage and is becoming a concrete business consideration across sectors and industries. Research conducted by MIT and Thoughtworks in 2023 showed nearly three-quarters of survey respondents either strongly agree (30%) or somewhat agree (43%) that “responsible technology considerations will eventually come to equal business or financial considerations in importance when organisations make decisions about technology use.

The most cited hurdles to adoption of responsible technology are a lack of senior management awareness (52%), organisational resistance to change (46%), and internal competing priorities (46%).

What the research also showed was that the definition of responsible technology varies across organisations and that there is currently no consensus on which responsible practices should take priority in organisations.

Session 1: Panel

The panel is going to discuss:

What Responsible Technology means to them
How they see the connection between Responsible Technology and Leadership with impact
How they translate the concept into responsible practices in their field/organisation

Bio (continued)

I am co-founder of Dot Project, bringing over 25 years of experience in digital leadership to our mission to empower charities and social impact organisations through digital resilience. At the heart of our work is a commitment to people and relationships, ensuring our clients thrive in their digital journeys. Since 2016, our work at Dot Project has touched over 800 organisations and individuals, enhancing their digital and technology infrastructure.

My commitment to the "tech for good" movement has driven me to be an active advocate and facilitator in this space as co-founder and ecosystem lead for Tech4Good South West and founding member for the Tech for Good Organisers Network. These initiatives aim to connect and inspire individuals using and engaging with technology to create positive social change.