September 30, 2022
Podcast
In September, 2022 I was invited by Johanna Weaver, Director | Tech Policy Design Centre, The Australian National University to join her on her podcast Tech Mirror. She reached out to me following my submission piece to InnovationAus – The Innovation Papers, on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in technology, calling for a wider review of diversity in tech announced recently by the Australian government. We discussed why diversity matters, why we haven’t achieved as much progress as we hoped in the last decade, and how the tech sector can embrace diversity, equity and inclusion.
We unpacked a lot, while you can listen to the podcast here, I’ve highlighted below some of the issues we discussed.
What is the case for diversity and why are we still struggling? I use my football club Nottingham Forest to explain why.
Why are DEI specialists leaving their roles after two years?
The importance of Australia’s national science and research priorities review from Ed Husic MP, and the issues I have when we talk about STEM and who we are excluding.
Does the Tech sector do enough to attract non-technical people?
How does the TechDiversity Awards help raise the awareness of drawing a correlation between the good that technology can do and choosing a career in tech, and how being in the industry is not all about being a technologist.
The role of business and community leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion. How can overcome the skills shortage and create a new talent pool on the ground within communities?
*How the Diversity Atlas platform is the most comprehensive platform to help Government and tech organisations to understand who they are in terms of how workforces reflect the communities within they work in.
My Biggest ‘Call for Action’ Out of our Conversation
*Let’s drive DEI strategy and measure the impact of change through data driven insights, this is what is going to make a difference.
I’m asking the tech industry to come together and recognize we need to get together as an industry to understand WHO WE ARE.
My Final Plea!
The Biden Administration put forward an executive order last year that the US Government has to be reflective of American society, their DEI strategy is built around this. If the Australian Government took this approach, then our frustrations around DEI would be ease and progress would be made.Please if there is a Government representative out there who would like to work with me to make this possible – reach out.
You can listen to the podcast here