Why Invest in Responsible Tech?
For all the focus on what we can platform in the tech industry — the latest product update, followers numbers, our expertise in AI or the venture capital we raise — far less is said, at least outside the industry, on what it takes to create it. To the average user of a tech platform, agile delivery, data analysis, scrum masters and user experience means little.
It’s how the tech they use — the digital products and services they chose and are required to access — helps or hinders their lives that matters, but often, in our rush to capture data, optimise conversions or go viral, we forget that beyond the needs of our organisations or the competition we’re engaging in as an industry, its the needs of people we’re here to serve.
We forget that tech’s purpose is to serve people, and it’s this understanding that’s informing the work of a burgeoning community of individuals and organisations in Greater Manchester, where concerns around the cost of tech’s profit-first culture to communities, society and the environment have inspired an ambition to shape a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable industry.
Focused exclusively on putting people first when it comes to all things digital, the shared ambition of organisations ranging from the Co-op and Greater Manchester Combined Authority to Open Data Manchester and Salford CVS, the Responsible Tech Collective’s mission is to bring home the humanity to tech.
Led by social impact agency Noisy Cricket, and driven by the city-regions thought leaders, innovators and values-led organisations, the collective is exploring how they advance data ethics, design ethics, diversity and digital inclusion, from within their organisations, but not just because of the potential social and environmental impact of their work.
Wising up to consumer concerns around unfair algorithms, behavioural targeting, dark UX and data hacking, and witnessing increasing numbers of tech employees organising, protesting and leaving organisations where the wider impact of the technology they’re asked to create isn’t considered, the growing need for ethical tech is clear.
Yet, while government legislation and policy play catch up, and the costs — beyond negative PR and promised “techlash” hasn’t yet spilled over into lost users or consumers for the big tech players, the tipping point for practising responsible tech hasn’t been reached. So, why bother?
For the founder members of the collective, there are four compelling reasons for investing in responsible tech:
- Consumer Trust: The biggest threat facing the tech industry right now is the potential loss of users and consumers, as trust in the tech industry hits an all-time low. Fears around automation, AI, cyber security and loss of personal freedoms abound, and as ethical consumerism gains in power, those organisations who consider people’s rights, care for people and consider the needs of communities they live in, which organisations are likely to thrive?
- Employee Motivation: Netflix protests, Google walkouts, Amazon’s shareholder shake up… employee activism in the tech industry is only going to scale as younger generations continue to work towards a more just world. When purposeful, motivated and diverse staff outperform and innovate better than organisations where competition, aggression and profit-focus lead to burnout, who can afford to lose talent in an industry already blighted by talent shortages?
- Reducing Costs: Beyond the cost of damaged reputations — who knew AirBnB’s tech would lead to gentrification of Cambridge Analytica rinsing Facebook could damage democracy — tech companies are also facing fines for everything from mismanagement of data to anti-competitive practises. But what about the cost of unpicking poor accessibility or redeveloping features that meet assumed (as opposed to clearly stated) needs?
- Improved Products and Services: Just like having diverse people in your organisations bring new and vital perspectives, exploring the needs of wider groups of people and communities which your tech impacts and influences can only improve product performance. Improve trust and reducing costs in its wake, profitability will likely follow. Who knew such bounty could exist through putting people first?
Yet, despite the myriad benefits of engaging in responsible tech, our organisation’s aren't often set up to ensure we’re building trust through our use of data, or designing products and services that meet people’s (as opposed to our organisation’s) needs.
Hierarchical decision making — often from the white men most likely to occupy leadership positions in the tech industry — and rigid processes, tight budgets and predetermined outcomes hinder our ability to ask who we’re including or excluding through pushing a new feature live. For change to happen we must go inward within our organisations, and that’s exactly what the Responsible Tech Collective intends to do.
Scoping out the biggest challenges and opportunities facing our organisations and industry in progressing responsible tech throughout 2022 and into 2023, sponsorship from Luminate and the Co-op Foundation is providing the collective with an opportunity to explore the following design questions:
With the intention of creating the conditions to influence practice and policy across the public and private sector primarily, we’re starting out exploring how we might share and progress some of the incredible learning already taking place in organisations like Barclays, Nexer, Manchester City Council and Diverse and Equal.
For tech leaders, knowing where to start is a huge challenge, especially as the standards and best practise surrounding responsible tech is so subjective. Who decides what good looks like? Making a business case too for a new way of approaching tech might prove difficult to sell, which is why we’re starting out with organisations who are open-minded, progressive and proactive.
Right now, the Responsible Tech collective is still early in its journey, and we’re open to all organisations who are willing and able to change practice, process and policy, and commit to putting people, communities, wider society and the environment first. If you’re interested in coming along for the ride, get in touch at hello@noisycricketorg.uk.
