Tech for Good Live

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 George Fell. Podcast.co make all of this possible thanks to the shiny podcast studio they provide. Thanks to the Disruptive Innovation Festival. I’ve been, and will continue to be, Rebecca Rae-Evans. Thanks also to Paul Jakubowski and Jonny Rae-Evans from the Tech for Good Live team.

You can find a full transcript of this episode on techforgood.live

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:

Can a limit of 30 minutes per day of social media reduce feelings of loneliness and depression?

https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/09/limiting-social-media-use-reduced-loneliness-and-depression-in-new-experiment/

Whistleblower app fights forced evictions in Kenya:

https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2018/11/08/new-whisteblower-app-fights-forced-evictions-in-kenya/

Staff being microchipped: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/11/alarm-over-talks-to-implant-uk-employees-with-microchips

Quick Update to last week’s reporting on the Google Walkout… Google respond:

https://www.blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/note-our-employees

Video game helped a journalist understand their grandma’s dementia:

https://www.cnet.com/news/the-video-game-that-helped-me-understand-my-grandmas-dementia/

Iceland Christmas Ad banned for being too political:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/09/iceland-christmas-tv-ad-banned-political-greenpeace-orangutan

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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’s not all! It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t throw all kinds of shade at Facebook and their new advertising policy in the run up to the US midterms.

We also talk about robots, because, why not?

Things we mentioned:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/technology/sexual-harassment-google.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46054202

https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/04/google-uber-harassment-transgender/

https://www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk/2018/11/05/anti-bullying-week-to-focus-on-cyberbullying/

https://news.vice.com/amp/en_ca/article/xw9n3q/we-posed-as-100-senators-to-run-ads-on-facebook-facebook-approved-all-of-them

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-approved-political-ads-paid-for-by-cambridge-analytica-2018-10?r=US&IR=T

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-45992475/robot-backpack-how-this-fusion-bot-aids-collaboration

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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=130695

https://twitter.com/Channel4/status/1055748086159605761

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/10/29/uk_budget_2018_tax/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maxinemackintosh/2018/10/28/uk-announces-its-vision-for-nhs-technology-and-its-not-sexy/#3fcc1e38178b

https://technation.io/news/it-pays-to-be-diverse-in-uk-tech/

https://danhett.itch.io/sorry

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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 predict earthquake aftershocks [Link]

Dramatic slowdown in global growth of internet access [Link]

Based on “US driverless cars unsafe as they can’t spot iconic British vehicles like the Routemaster bus and Hackney cab, experts warn” [Link]

Panasonic's human blinkers help people concentrate in open-plan offices [Link]

Dancing Boston Dynamics Dog [Link]

*it's not a real thing

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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-clean-on-how-donors-money-is-spent

https://www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk/2018/10/11/workplace-introduces-new-features-for-charities/

https://rianrietveld.com/2018/10/09/i-have-resigned-the-wordpress-accessibility-team/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/10/amazon-hiring-ai-gender-bias-recruiting-engine

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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 does David Slaughter think about robot farmers?

You know, just a typical week of nonsense on the Tech for Good Live podcast.

Thanks to the magnificent PR Agency One who try to make sense of this mess. Also, thanks to podcast.co for hosting us in a beautiful mirrored studio. Which you can’t see. But it is pretty.

Things we mentioned:

https://www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk/2018/10/04/social-media-push-highlights-shopping-challenges-for-autistic-people/

https://www.dandadimpact.com/winners/2018

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/9/26/17902262/border-family-separation-policy-reunification-software

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/08/robot-farm-iron-ox-california

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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”.

Things mentioned:

https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/donations-text-expected-rise-34-next-year/fundraising/article/1494211

https://www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk/2018/09/28/the-best-uk-charity-digital-campaigns-of-the-year/

https://twitter.com/verge/status/1046150132297854976?s=19

www.inrupt.com

https://mashable.com/article/google-text-adventure-game-easter-egg/?europe=true

Thanks to The Federation in partnership with The Omidyar Network and the Co-op Foundation also thank you to the wonderful podcast.co.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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-is-but-do-you-7946174/

Charity news of the week

Charities, it seems, aren’t down with the kids:

https://www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk/2018/09/21/charity-retailers-failing-to-connect-online-with-generation-z/

Prototyping park projects

https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/prototyping-projects-parks/

Student Union platform helps societies get sponsorship http://www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/tech-for-good-platform-helps-student-unions-bag-funds

Tech news of the week

Has Jeff Bezos done something which isn’t Bond-villain-level-monstrous?

https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/13/17855358/jeff-bezos-day-one-fund-nonprofit-preschool-amazon

Rant of the week

Gamers continuously need to get their shit together:

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/total-war-rome-2-is-getting-review-bombed-on-steam-because-of-women-generals/

And Finally...

Trump. Haha.

More from Chelsea:

https://twitter.com/innovateheruk

https://twitter.com/lpoolgirlgeeks

Thanks to The Federation in partnership with The Omidyar Network and the Co-op Foundation also thank you to the wonderful podcast.co.

Special thanks to @geekytom for the theme tune

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]

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 do online but how often do we question the design of these products and experiences? Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases, and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women, sign up forms that fail anyone who’s not straight. Social media sites that send peppy messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.

The algorithms Facebook and other tech companies use to boost engagement – and increase profits – have led to spectacular failures of sensitivity and worse. How can we fight back?

Sara is a Philadelphia-based web consultant and the author of two additional books for web professionals: Design for Real Life, with Eric Meyer and Content Everywhere. She helps organisations make sense of their digital content and is a recognised worldwide conference speaker.

Further reading:

Technically Wrong, Sexist apps, biased algorithms and other threats of toxic tech.

sarawb.com

Hosted by Rebecca Rae-Evans (@rebeccawho), featuring pod regular Jonny Rae-Evans (@jonnyraeevans)

Produced by @paul_yakabovski

Get in touch:Twitter: @techforgoodliveInstagram: techforgoodliveEmail: [email protected]