Contemporary tech solutions often prove to be true game-changers. They bring unprecedented improvements in different areas, help us see the bigger picture and easily solve complex problems. It’s great to read some good news, so let’s dive into the examples of tech that bring a positive impact to the world.
In this article, I write about:
- the positive impact tech solutions have;
- astounding examples of such solutions in different areas;
- my book “Tech treats & treasures”.
I do believe that it’s us, tech creators and users, who choose the direction technology runs towards. Luckily, there are so many creative minds, scientists and tech enthusiasts out there who are passionate about changing everyday human struggles into challenges for technology.
The last few years have demonstrated how tech solutions created in a crisis situation change our general attitude towards the way we live, work, communicate and help one another. Researched trends, numbers in reports and many initiatives prove we live in the era of #SocialImpactTechnology.
Technology in agriculture
Data is more powerful than we can imagine. With progressing climate changes and decreasing global access to natural resources, technology can be the answer to essential questions.
Wild Ken Hill Farm
Peter Job introduced me to the amazing idea of regenerative farming that Wild Ken Hill Farm is currently pioneering. They focus on returning to natural techniques instead of using chemical fertilisers and herbicides. Peter Job has been exploring with Wild Ken Hell their current data modelling predictions and how to maximise even further with predictive models based on machine learning.
Nature Wrap
The other interesting news comes from Linda Achan and it regards the good old potato and the incredible potential it holds for our future. The number of things that can be created out of potato waste is outstanding. We all need to appreciate the value of this most democratic and usable vegetable.
Technology in safety
When thinking about supporting common safety, we need to consider facilitating the work of public safety services.
Fire Flow
Dave Roberts told me about Fire Flow, a digital tool developed by Santec.io in partnership with Thames Water and London Firebrigade. Thanks to technology, firefighters can check the flow and firefighting capacity of every single hydrant. They know where to send station appliances, which hydrants to use and which routes to take as Fire Flow categorises every building in London based on fire flow requirements and local capacity. It provides fast, accurate data transfer between water suppliers and the fire service. It’s also embedded into new construction programmes to improve building safety.
Technology in access to information
The internet and different tech tools changed the way and the pace we consume information these days. Our choice of what’s breaking news for us is based on our behaviour and algorithm sending us numerous notifications.
The news
Brian Brackenborough raised an interesting point that it’s not technology that is bad but the human approach towards it.
Technology in education
Tech solutions that fuel development in education are absolutely astounding. Access to knowledge increases globally, and different approaches toward learning and smart tools making it a more fun and effective process is game-changing.
Wellcome Collection
Eileen Jennings-Brown, CIO at Exscientia and Director of Emerge Technical Solutions Ltd., explained how the audio-visual team made different features of Wellcome’s Gallery accessible and safe again throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The team designed a number of solutions that didn’t require touching or using the museum’s appliance. For example, they installed headphone sockets for users’ own gear to be plugged-in and automatically play back the recording. They replaced standard buttons with foot switches and used an infra-red trigger to control lighting and start video playback. What is more, they implemented real-time 3D modelling of visitor’s hands for more sophisticated controls. The absolute cherry on top is a touch-free gesture control interaction from invisible sensors that allows scrolling through a gallery of images simply by waving hands. And I love the way the team sums up this incredible achievement. They’ve just brought “a little bit of audio-visual magic” to the overall experience. Brilliant.
Mentor Me
As a wide area of activity, education can also be understood as building a professional community, where people on different levels can exchange knowledge, experiences, thoughts and ideas. Zoe Morris brought up a brilliant initiative called Mentor Me, launched in 2021. It matches women across the technology industry with more experienced professionals in their field for a six-month mentoring programme. Attendees hope to make their next career move – build skills and expertise after the programme.
Technology and society
Communication
COVID-19 pandemic and connected lockdowns were a huge change that happened practically overnight. It was difficult for almost everyone as it affected our social interactions. Many of us struggled extremely hard as the situation lasted for months. Caroline Carruthers has made her point on what really matters in online meetings and communication. We need to see and hear each other, find time for fruitful, authentic conversations and meetings, as well as share calls with all the ones we need to connect with simultaneously. That’s what technology already offers us, but before 2020 we somehow took it for granted.
Inclusion
The pandemic pretty much changed the attitude towards online meetings and work as such. The essential positive effect of remote work and communication is that the importance of disabled people’s inclusion in society grows. Tracey Jessup put up the example of the UK’s House of Lords and the Lords Members who couldn’t attend the House due to long-term disability.
It only shows that solutions necessary to be introduced due to the pandemic changed the way the whole organisation benefits for every member, regardless of health condition.
Flying Binary
“Deep tech is where engineering meets scientific discoveries” saysFlying Binary and it’s hard not to agree. Dr. Jacqui Taylor contributed her web science knowledge at the gathering of research specialists at the Royal Society in 2009 and brought her inclusive initiative to life. FlyingBinary is a NCSC Cyber Essentials accredited web science company which changes the world with deep technology. Cloud, data and collaboration services, including Smart City, AI, Big Data and IIoT on HM Government accredited G-Cloud platforms. Top Ten Global IoT innovators enabling organisations to grow globally online. They use deep technology to support the new generation of entrepreneurs, unlock their talents and bring them to the world. As Dr. Taylor says:
The British Computer Society (BCS)
Another interesting view on inclusion in the tech world is brought by Freddie Quek, who figured that if he wants anything to change for good, he needs to be the change.
Tech professionals know how to deal with technological changes and disruption as they encounter a lot of such situations throughout their careers. Imagine how much good can happen, if one person takes one action at a time? Sharing knowledge and expertise and simply taking action is key to a better tech future for all.
Technology and healthcare
Everyone who dealt with their close one’s or their own serious health condition or oncological disease knows the significance of receiving a decent level of care.
HQP
Mark Lockton-Goddart, who has supported hospices for 15 years, decided to do something more for the wonderful people working in those facilities. As many of them function with very little tech support, he started to work with a range of different hospices. He gave advice on technology strategy and became the chair of HQP: The Care Procurement Specialist, a charity that supports hospices all over the country as a buying group. It helps hospices join together and get the best possible price on key products and services.
Ask Ave
This is my dearest project, which I’m incredibly proud of. Ask Ave is a health chatbot created by Cancer Central. During the pandemic, a version of Ask Ave helped NHS Scotland deal with over 1 million Covid-19 enquiries, this version was engineered by our partners Ensono Digital. Ask Ave for the NHS Inform website was awarded with Best Public Sector Project, Computing Digital Technology Leader Awards 2021 and Best Cloud-Native Project, International Cloud Awards 2021-22. Let me share with you a few words from Mathew Mallet, who led this initiative.
Technology and sustainability
Energy Wells LLC
The UN commits to achieve sustainable economic, social and environmental development through main goals: accessible and clean power, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure. 600 million Africans live without electricity, but 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas remains undeveloped in sub-Saharan Africa. As Linda Achan said:
Sounds brilliant, right? What is more, as Linda explained, natural gas can replace kerosene and wood burning, help reduce deforestation, and decrease risks of fires. On the other hand, the provision of affordable power will enable cold storage, crucial for food security as well as will support e-commerce trade.
Sustainable business
Sustainability is no longer a trend or a smart PR catch. It’s a must not only in terms of fighting climate changes or decreasing carbon footprint. The most significant outcome of running a sustainable business is being authentic for customers who are aware of the problem. Sean Sadler brought up the idea of sustainability as an important part of the company’s portfolio. He listed 3 benefits of becoming consciously and authentically sustainable as a business:
- the opportunity to rethink your business model,
- the opportunity to save costs over time,
- the opportunity to take advantage of the latest technology available to increase your agility and speed to the market.
As technology plays a major part in resolving issues with climate change, there are a number of solutions to implement for good. One of them is moving from “costly, power hungry data centres” to more carbon neutral cloud environments. As Sean emphasised, major providers of cloud services (Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, AWS) offer tools to calculate your carbon footprint when using their solutions. But, to be honest, let’s face the facts:
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This piece of writing is just a little hint of what you can find in Avril Chester’s “Tech treats & treasures. A collection of short stories and nuggets of wisdom from the world of technology”.
You can find the book on Amazon.
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