At heart, I’m an optimist. I believe technology knows no bounds. This year, I’ve been privileged to work in India and Africa, assisting Amnesty International build an Android app. Amnesty is a global movement of more than 3 mil. activists who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. They requested the company I work at, ThoughtWorks, build a mobile app that would allow activists out in the field to safely contact a guardian network during periods of emergencies. I was the experience designer on that project. Using customer journey mapping, user-test driven development & continuous design, we built an app that has now been tested in the field. I want to share the learnings behind building technology for human rights – from the collaborative design process we used in Bangalore to the user testing we conducted in Nairobi to the strategic envisioning we’ve done from London. This is a story about how to create a mobile strategy based on real user empathy & understanding. It’s a global story about how software plays a role in building a better tomorrow.

Questions answered :
What is technology’s role in human rights?
What does it mean to better humanity through software?
How do socially conscious organisations put their expertise to work by collaborating with humanitarian-driven organisations?
How can a corporate consultancy promote social justice?
What is the relationship between individuals and organizations when driving social change?
Why are networks important in driving forward a better tomorrow?

A session exploring the role that women play in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, despite the fact that they make up less than 20% of the workforce.

Questions answered :
Why are there so few women, and why should we care?
How we can get more women into STEM?
What are easy things that can I do personally, which will actually make a difference?

Cultural organisations are now in an environment of new communities of partners, collaborators, artists, participants, consumers and audiences. All are necessary to transform the way organisations produce, interact, create, curate, engage with and transform cultural experiences. In doing so they reinforce their long-term sustainability of cultural organisations by contextualising this with new revenue models and new relationships.

This session discusses conclusions from the Hello Culture conference on leading edge thinking in Transforming Cultural Heritage, Transforming Cultural Business Models and Transforming Audience Participation & Engagement

Questions answered :
How can I change my business and revenue models using digital?
How can I transform audience participation and engagement?
What are the barriers to cultural/digital collaboration?
Show me examples of collaborations that have worked.

We’ve developed Smartphone apps to help people understand their own recreational drug use, supply health answers to questions most wouldn’t want ask their doctor – and compare their drug use to thousands of other people around the world. People increasingly trust data and objective facts more than Government or experts; and the future of drug policy increasingly lies in the hands of the people, not policy makers.

Questions answered :
Why apps are perfect for healthcare
Why people are more likely to ask a computer for advice than a doctor
Why data is more persuasive than expert status or Government say-so
Why big data is vital for social change

If all our gas meters told a story about the impact the volume of gas we used has rather than a set of numbers we don’t really understand – would it change behavior? Would we become a more conscious society if we began to understand the impact of our actions. The tweet deck/sprint dashboard phenomenon applied.

Questions answered :
At CES a big theme was around products that tell us more about ourselves. How can we use this product development for bigger behavioral change?

This session will give an overview of the charity sector in Hackney and the key challenges faced by the communities. This session is for entrepreneurs who are keen to know more about Hackney and who are motivated by the idea of ‘giving something back’ to the local community by sharing their skills with others. The session will give an overview of regeneration charity ELBA who works with corporate partners to support east London and support cross sector partnerships. It will also detail how partnerships can be developed with corporates in the City and what skills sharing might be on offer.

Questions Answered:
Why is the voluntary sector so important in Hackney? What resources & skills are needed by the sector? How can enterprises support by giving as little as an hour of their time. How can enterprises be supported themselves by the corporate sector?

I want to look at how crowdfunding can transform our towns and cities. On Spacehive, anyone can propose a project idea to make where they live better, and anyone can back projects they like – from local residents to businesses, corporates, and grant bodies. It helps brilliant ideas come to light and find funding from a diverse range of sources.

Questions Answered:
What is crowdfunding? How can it be used to improve our civic spaces? Who can get involved? Is tech vital to the future of our cities?

This session will explore how more and more young people are making professional media in the UK. From SBTV to Fife Youth Radio the phenomena is one that is raising aspirations of millions of young people and telling a story of positive social change.

Questions Answered:
What is the youth media landscape in the UK?
Use of digital technology in the advancement of youth media.

Startacus is an online platform seeking to inspire, encourage and motivate people to come together, connect and collaborate on creative and entrepreneurial projects.

Aimed primarily at a UK and Ireland based audience the site aims to become a definitive go-to source for the enterprising individual, offering everything from funding information through to basic roadmaps for creating a business.
The key innovation within the Startacus platform is the collaborative aspect which in essence provides a virtual workspace for creatives and entrepreneurs to work on projects and thereby facilitates enterprise development.

Questions Answered:
I am Startacus. Are You?

This presentation will introduce participants to The White Building – London’s new centre for art, technology and sustainability and will be accompanied by artist case studies.

Questions Answered:
The presentation will discuss how the White Building can:

- Support, showcase and sustain the existing creative economy of the area, alongside international practice.

- Maintain the profile of the area as a leading creative cluster.

- Ensure art and artists are at the heart of future development in the area and the legacy of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

- Engage local residential and school communities