OPENING REMARKS AND SETTING THE STAGE: The Tech for Good Summit 2023 marks 3 years since the launch of the Scottish Tech Army at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has faded but the need and the opportunity for tech for good has not, indeed it could be said to be greater than ever. At the Tech for Good Summit in 2022, the Scottish Tech Army announced the launch of the Tech for Good Alliance - join our co-founder and CEO as he shares highlights from the past year and looks ahead to the challenges facing the third sector and the opportunities for the tech for good ecosystem to join forces to create positive change.

OPENING KEYNOTE - RHODRI DAVIES, WHY PHILANTHROPY MATTERS: The third sector is always under pressure and constraints, now more than ever - it is heavily dependent on the support of volunteers, funders and philanthropists. Technology has the potential to maximise the impact that can be created from these sources of support but where is the greatest need and the greatest opportunity. Rhodri Davies is a leading thinker and strategist in the field of philanthropy and impact and in this session, he will set the scene for the day by sharing his experience and perspective on these topics.

SKILLED VOLUNTEERING - GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE, GOOD FOR THE BUSINESS: Many companies now offer their employees the opportunity to carry out voluntary work during paid hours. This reflects genuine philanthropic intent and the organisations being supported undoubtedly derive benefit from it, especially when staff are using their specialist skills rather than carrying out lower-skilled manual tasks. What are the benefits back to the business itself?

AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE THIRD SECTOR: The technology landscape in the third sector is fragmented and where common systems have been created it has often been difficult to get widespread adoption. There is no ‘one size fits all’ tech platform that can serve all the needs of an entire sector, but there are undoubtedly requirements that are common across significant parts of it. These could be horizontal applications like funding application processes, impact measurement and reporting, or vertical applications supporting organisations working in similar areas, such as asylum seekers and refugees, food distribution, and tackling homelessness.

CREATING EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY: There is much talk of the digital divide. On one hand, there is a widely-recognised shortage of skilled people in the tech sector and others that rely on technology, and on the other hand there is an urgent problem of digital exclusion and a dearth of equality of opportunity for many individuals in our society. But good work is being done, by both business and education. Whether it’s ensuring that young people can be inspired and learn what they need to learn to secure high value work, or businesses opening new recruitment and career pathways into their organisations.

CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION: For the last two years, the Scottish Tech Army has benefitted from the insight of its cross sector Ambassadors. This group of leaders brings together insights and experience from the tech, corporate, third and education sectors, a combination that brings together different perspectives and provides the opportunity for innovative collaboration and these sectors.

FEDERATED ORGANISATIONS - THE SCALE OPPORTUNITY: Federated organisations share some characteristics of franchise models. Common processes and systems underpin the operations of successful franchise operations. In principle this lends itself well to federated organisations in the third sector – is this approach being utilised now and what can be done to increase awareness of what works well and encourage greater openness and uptake of this approach?

OPEN DATA FOR ACTION: The value and power of open data was highlighted to everyone during the pandemic. There are many open data sets being generated from multiple sources but there are also many issues with discoverability, consistency and frequency/regularity of updates. How can we encourage governments and other data owners to continue to extend and improve access to data and how can we demonstrate the power of using that data to support a story telling capability for the third sector and civil society?

THE VALUE OF SKILLED VOLUNTEERING TO THE THRID SECTOR: Volunteers are the bedrock of the third sector – it simply wouldn’t function without them. Skilled volunteering, whether from the tech or any other specialist sector can be transformational for charities, but sometimes doesn’t realise its full potential. How can the third sector capitalise on the opportunities that skilled volunteering offers and what is the impact when it works well?

CLOSING KEYNOTE - KATHRYN BADDELEY, CISCO: In 2015, Cisco set itself a challenge to positively impact 1 billion lives through its social impact grants and programmes by 2025. As we start 2023, this global technology giant has reported that it is 70% into meeting that challenge. Kathryn Baddeley has led Cisco UK & Ireland's CSR programme for more than ten years. We will hear more about this extraordinary stretch target and what the focus will be for the next two years and beyond.