Location
Registration – Light Breakfast
Chairperson Introduction and Opening Remarks
Hardwiring Diversity and Inclusion into Everything You Do – Moving From Why to How
Reserved for Headline Sponsor
Week after week, the headlines read ‘The Tech Sector has a Diversity Problem’, repeatedly pointing to the same statistics and lack of progress on the underlying issues. This is an industry driven by innovation and finding solutions, why therefore is this still an issue in the 21st Century? Everbody knows the business case for diversity and inclusion, the discussion we now need to have is how do we implement strategies and achieve success?
21st Century Leadership – How to Cultivate Leadership in Today’s Multigenerational Workplace
Reserved for JP Morgan
Today’s workforce is composed of at least 4 generations; talent whose differing preferences and ways of getting the job done are more defined. If you’re a leader or a talent manager, you need to be prepared to survive this exceptional shift in the workplace and make the most of it. As a leader, you need to recognise and value nuanced differences in each generation of workers whilst engaging and utilising all of their talents. This session will explore and provide you with practical techniques to help lead the generations of today and tomorrow.
Digital Workplace Transformation, Workforce Diversity & The Agile Workplace
Natasha Sayce-Zelem – Head of Technology @ Sky
The divide between workplace technology and that used in everyday life is closing. But when it comes to the workplace, it’s not just about new technology; it’s about a new mindset. Digital workplace transformation isn’t just about upgrading to better systems; it’s about changing the culture of the workplace so that employees feel compelled to embrace new digital tools and are inspired to use them. Natasha Sayce-Zelem will show how an agile workforce means a diverse workforce. She will prove that, in order to maintain diversity, companies must get technology to support the work people do, rather than forcing them to submit to it.
COFFEE BREAK
On Poets, Painters & Programmers
Shaheen Sayed – Managing Director Technology and Financial Services @ Accenture
“There is a disjunction between the kinds of intelligence that we have traditionally honoured in schools and the kinds of creativity we need today in our organisations and our society’’. Howard Gardner.
The rapidity of our era’s technological change is unprecedented and 60% percent of the work our children will do has not yet been invented: a disruption that demands an educational paradigm shift in how and what we teach. It is critical that we meet this revolution by nurturing the most valuable and desirable of skills – the ability to innovate and to think critically as well as compassionately. The focus on STEM alone is reductive.
There has been a long-term steady decline in the funding and study of the arts and humanities more broadly. How do we rethink the fallacy that creative intelligence is somehow lesser than and optional for a future no one can predict, let alone imagine? This isn’t a time to debate maths vs music, it is a time to foster and value the coexistence of divergent and convergent thinkers: to set the dreamer and the realist to work side by side.
Attracting a Diverse Talent Pool to Your Technical Teams
Reserved for Event Partner
Today’s tech companies are starting to realise that in order to truly attract top talent and run a business that appeals to the greatest amount of people, they need to be proactive about having a diverse workforce. In this session, we will explore the simple things that any company can do to make sure they appeal to a wider talent pool and eliminate any unconscious biases during their hiring process. By taking intentional action on this front, companies can make sure they have a variety of perspectives contributing to their products, from women to minorities to veterans, and be more successful for it.
Making Space for Difficult Conversations
Reserved for Guest Speaker
This session takes an in-depth look at the importance of facilitating difficult conversations to promoting awareness of difference, minimising the occurrence of cultural conflicts, and appreciating diversity in all its forms. We will also explore the equally critical work of recovering from the mistakes and bumps that inevitably occur on the road to greater competence and inclusivity.
LUNCH
Panel: How to Create an Inclusive World in a Non-Inclusive World
Moderated by Ebi Osuobeni – Founder @ Oscillate Tech TV
Featuring:
Jacky Wright – Chief Digital and Information Officer @ HMRC Steven Cox – VP @ Fujitsu Diane Lightfoot – CEO @ Business Disability Forum Jenny Fallover – London City Director @ Lesbians Who Tech
Building an inclusive mind-set is essentially laying the foundation for a company’s entire culture. There are nuanced ways to approach support for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. If we can become more disciplined and precise in learning how to create and maintain diversity in the right ways, this will make for a more prosperous and productive economy in the future. Everybody knows we need to have a more diverse workforce, but the question is how? This session will discuss the ways we can tackle the diversity issue head on.
Could Quotas Be the Silver Bullet for Equality?
Pamela Hutchinson – Head of Diversity and Inclusion @ Bloomberg
With Iceland’s recent decision to make it illegal to pay men more than women, the conversation surrounding laws and quotas within the world of diversity and inclusion has reached a turning point. But its an emotive topic that divides opinions sharply. Ideally, businesses should be able to achieve diversity without the need for these measures but until we see a rise in the number of people from diverse groups further up the hierarchy, all solutions should be on the table, is it now time to face the inevitable?
COFFEE BREAK
What Part Will Data Play in Developing the Future of Work?
Reserved for Event Partner
Flows of data have created new infrastructure, new businesses, new politics and—crucially—new economics. Digital information is unlike any previous resource; it is extracted, refined, valued, bought and sold in different ways. It changes the rules for markets and it demands new approaches from regulators. Many a battle will be fought over who should own, and benefit from, data. The value of data is increasing and technology companies need to start thinking about potential new roles that need to be created.
Will the Future of Tech Be Diverse, Flexible and Automated?
Reserved for Event Partner
There is no doubt that the impacts of AI and other emerging technologies will be dramatic. Among key concerns is the question of whether this technology will deprive millions of their jobs and affect the overall diverse workforce. Let’s discover the real consequences of technology on society and the working environment.
Where Will We Be in 30 Years Time?
Reserved for Event Partner
Presentation details coming soon…
NETWORKING DRINKS
Location
Disrupt Ourselves Before We Are Disrupted
Diana Biggs – Head of Digital Innovation @ HSBC
Innovation needs to become second nature. Rapid technological developments, changes in the international political environment and an ageing population are challenges that we are all facing and we need to tackle them head on. As businesses deploy new technologies to automate certain tasks, it also creates a major opportunity for workers with the right skills and mindset to solve more complex challenges. This means reskilling the workforce for the digital age is critical for both businesses and workers to prosper. Digital disruption and new technologies don’t have to be threats, but opportunities to continue to grow as a professional.
Harnessing Digital to Embrace and Encourage Diversity
Robin Christopherson – Head of Digital Inclusion @ AbilityNet
Robin will challenge any preconceptions you may have about the power of diversity and inclusive design in both your customers and workforce. Being blind himself, he provides us with an excellent first-hand example of everyday choices we can make to embrace diversity so long as we simply prioritise for inclusion. Robin will be talking about (but more importantly demonstrating) the key aspects of an inclusive approach and how it has the power to change and even transform people’s lives regardless of ability or environment. Will you be part of the Everybody Technology future?
Diversity Makes Teams Smarter
Reserved for Event Partner
It’s not easy to introduce diversity into a previously homogeneous situation. We’re naturally hardwired to prefer people who are similar to ourselves, and differences of opinion occasionally lead to disruptive conflicts. On top of that, some people doubt the value of diversity because they don’t recognise its contributions to their own improved performance. Similar people are less likely to see things that others have not seen before. This session will show how in these situations, diversity makes teams smarter, more creative and more effective.
LUNCH
Strategies for Effective Cross-Cultural Communication
Alix Burge – CTIO IoT, Service and Digital, Ventures @ BT
With the increased globalisation in everything we do, it is essential to establish and maintain effective cross-cultural communication within the workplace. Workplace diversity can clearly create more opportunities than challenges. We often take for granted the way we communicate with one another. In a multicultural organisation, how employees communicate can set the tone and foundation for a learning culture. Let’s take a look at the importance of creating an environment that supports diversity and promotes effective communication.
Why Mental Health Doesn’t Need to be the Elephant in the Room
Sue Baker – CEO @ Time to Change
Anyone can suffer from mental health challenges. It is time to make a change and look at the importance of inclusivity in the workplace and creating an environment where there is no stigma attached to mental health. This session will look at the importance of investing time in your employees to help them improve their emotional health and be more aware of others who might be struggling.
Location
How to Create an Inclusive Hiring Process
Elspeth Coates – Connector @ Makers Academy
Inclusive hiring processes are not just about hiring more women – they are about actually looking in unexpected places for talent and examining how your hiring process links to that. There is a lot of talk on how to maximise diversity, when another important topic is how to minimise exclusion. We shouldn’t try to hire more people from this group or that group, we should try to exclude fewer people from those groups — at every single moment they interact with our brand or our staff. Lots of people working in recruitment think that by fixing one or two items in the hiring process, it’s enough to overcome these accidents. It’s not. To truly make real progress you have to combat every single one – Makers will share best practices on this topic.
Humanising Diversity & Inclusion
Dion McKenzie – Co-Founder @ Colorintech.org
Ashleigh Ainsley – Co-Founder @ Colorintech.org
This workshop explores diversity and inclusion in the workplace and how individuals can begin to foster a transparent culture in their organisations. Led by the founders of Colorintech.org, a nonprofit that works to diversify the tech industry, this workshop requires an open mind, trust and (getting) comfortable with your biases.
LUNCH
Smashing the Glass Wall
Kathryn Jacob – CEO @ Pearl and Dean
Sue Unerman – Chief Transformation Officer @ MediaCom
This workshop will look at success strategies for women at work and businesses that mean business.
