Joe Hoy | The People Behind Tech for Good??

Meet Joe Hoy , a unique blend of intellect and quirkiness, born in the late 1960s in South London, Joe's curiosity always had him peering over the technological horizon. With an encyclopedic knowledge of science fiction and a penchant for quoting iconic series like Star Wars and Star Trek, his life is a fascinating mix of curiosity and quirks.

From early fascination with telecoms, inspired by his father's work, to meandering through various jobs, Joe's journey eventually led to the creation of Forensic Analytics Ltd Ltd. This company develops software tools that automate cell site analysis, benefiting law enforcement and expert witnesses on both sides of the legal spectrum. Joe's commitment to tech for good and his unexpected path to tech innovation make his story one worth exploring.

?? Joe, introduce yourself. What makes you, uniquely you? ?

I’m Joe Hoy , I was born in south London at the tail end of the 1960s to very young and idealistic parents, who believed in kindness and socialism.??

I’ve always been told that I’m clever but unfocused and I still have no idea what I’d like to do when I grow up. I’ve always been looking ahead, over the technological horizon, interested in what comes next – inevitably, this means that I have a huge interest in and an encyclopaedic knowledge of science fiction and rarely find myself in a situation where a Star Wars or Star Trek quote seems inappropriate.??

I keep trying to convince my wife that she finds it endearing (rather than irritating) that I can quote long tracts of script from Blackadder or Red Dwarf but can’t remember where I live or what she asked me to get her from Tesco’s. I haven’t got any specific hobbies – just the usual catchalls of reading, watching movies and arguing with people who claim that the moon landings were faked – but I enjoy cycling and spending time with my family.?

?? What can you tell us about your early years? ?

I’ve always been interested in technology, especially telecoms and have probably been more interested in understanding the technologies that allow people to talk to each other than I’ve been in actually talking to people.??

My Dad worked as a telephone engineer for 英国电信集团 (or the GPO as it was in those days) at Brixton Telephone Exchange, back when they used mechanical Strowger equipment to connect calls, and he used to take me in with him on Saturday mornings sometimes. I think that early exposure to telecoms principles – being able to literally see a circuit being connected as a multi-selector clicked round in response to someone dialling a number – engrained an almost instinctive understanding of the basic ideas of telecoms into me, which gave me a bit of a head start when I started working in the field.??

It was a while before I properly got into telecoms, though – I was a disappointing student (cf the ‘clever but unfocused’ comment above) and didn’t really put any effort into school. So much so that the head of our sixth form gently suggested that it would be less of a waste of everyone’s time if I left and got a job halfway through my A levels.

I then drifted around for a few years – I worked in a printer’s and a dole office, I was a cable jointer for 英国电信集团 and a cashpoint machine repairman – but finally got a gig as a telecoms trainer. This forced me to acquire a really good understanding of cellular technologies and taught me how to explain complicated concepts to non-technical people. I also worked as a cellular network engineer and got practical experience of building and maintaining those networks.

The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place when I was asked to act as an expert witness, explaining ‘cell site analysis’ evidence to juries – this essentially uses mobile phone billing data provide an approximate location for phones when calls were made, which can be useful in criminal investigations.?

?? Tell us more about the work you are currently doing...?

Those three strands of my experience – understanding of telecoms, experience of explaining technical concepts and working as a cell site expert witness – came together when I decided it would be a good idea to get some software created to automate the cell site analysis process.??

I started a company – Forensic Analytics Ltd – with two colleagues and we created a software tool to help investigators and analysts more quickly process and understand digital forensics evidence. Working as an expert witness, like many of my peers, I ended up doing jobs for both the prosecution and the defence and this gave me a good understanding of the middle ground that exists between those viewpoints. I like to think that our software products reflect this balanced view by concentrating on providing an accurate, unbiased view of the source data that can be used by either side in a case.?

The biggest benefit that users get from employing our tools is productivity – manual processing that can take days or weeks can be performed automatically in a few seconds, allowing the user to spend more time actually analysing the data in their case and adding value to the investigation, but also to work on more cases. We also put access to the collected experience and knowledge of our team at users’ fingertips – brand new analysts and investigators have access to analytical insights and techniques that would take them many years to acquire for themselves.?

We make sure that our tools are available to users who work for law enforcement and also to expert witnesses, who might work for either prosecution or defence. I think this is vitally important that both prosecution and defence have access to the same level of expertise – in fact I think it’s fundamental for the health of our criminal justice system and therefore for wider society that people have the opportunity for a robust, but principled, defence and equal access to analytical tools is a component of that.?

On the law enforcement side, I’ve always made a point of listening to our users – they’re the ones that use our tools day in day out, they’re the ones developing new techniques to analyse data and investigate crime, so they’re the best placed to know what features our tools need next.?

As an example – the Metropolitan Police in London created a team to combat drug dealing, specifically a variation of drug dealing called ‘county lines’ – where established urban drugs gangs create distribution lines out to county towns to expand their operations. This team developed a technique that focuses on the mobile phone usage of these gangs. By processing and analysing the main phone number used by a drugs line, the Metropolitan Police team found that they could gather enough evidence against the holder of that phone to obtain a conviction, even if they didn’t find that person in possession of any drugs.

More widely, though, drugs gangs often force young and vulnerable people to take the risks and carry the drugs for them and the analysis the Metropolitan Police team developed enabled these individuals to be identified and helped – not criminalised for being forced to deal drugs but given counselling and other help to get out of that way of life.?

We played no role in developing the technique and all of the societal good that comes from it is entirely down to the dedicated police officers who work on those teams, but I’m proud that we could play a part in the processes by automating it and allowing the investigative teams to massively improve their productivity.?

?? Let’s talk tech for good. What does tech for good mean to you? ?

Tech for good is an aspiration that I share with many others who are involved in technology – technology can democratise access and opportunity to people whose location, educational opportunities, gender, physical ability or economic circumstances who might not otherwise allow them to maximise their potential.

Technology can provide instant access to skills and knowledge that would take years to personally acquire, it can improve the productivity and reduce the cost of processes to a level that make them available to a greater number of users.??

In all of these things, technology is undoubtedly a force for good in society – but…?

Technology isn’t a universal force for good – well-intentioned technologies can be abused and corrupted and ill-intentioned technologies can find a willing audience and thrive. Unintended consequences can devastate industries that previously relied on skilled or manual labour, throwing workers out of their jobs; communications technologies can be abused to allow anonymous predators to ruin lives.?

Technologists must learn to balance their idealism to develop new tools with an understanding of how those tools can be corrupted and abused; unintended consequences must be eliminated by ensuring that developers take a clear-eyed look at their designs and probe them for vulnerabilities. A human-led and human-focused approach to technology can help with this, keeping the needs of the human audience at the forefront of the development process.?

?? Looking into the future, what aspects worry and excite you the most, and why? ?

The big technology buzz at the moment revolves around AI – I find that it both worries and excites me, but probably more worry than excitement – no one who’s seen any of the Terminator movies could watch the rise of AI with no qualms at all.?

Many of the disadvantageous aspects of AI relate to non-human-led or non-human-focused applications – generative AI being used to create content, or to power customer service chatbots, which put experienced humans out of a job and replace them with cheaper alternatives that generate questionable answers and occasionally include hallucinated content.?

AI has the potential to automate complex, boring, error-prone processes, but my fear is that many organisations will use it inappropriately to save cost and reduce headcount.?

A misspent youth consuming sci-fi books and movies has equipped me with multiple examples of the fictional dystopias created by unfettered use of AI – from the total destruction rained down by a newly conscious Skynet, to visions of a world where virtually no-one works and humanity is wasting away from boredom, because AI and robotics do it all for them.?

The appropriate use of AI is a force for good, the inappropriate use of AI is a recipe for disaster, but telling the difference between the two is a job for a better brain than mine.?

??How do you feel about being shortlisted for techUK's #PresidentsAward 2023? ?

Appearing on the techUK President’s Award shortlist was unexpected (my team hadn’t told me they’d nominated me) and winning it was unexpected (having looked at the inspirational stories of the other nominees).

For me personally, it involves a degree of embarrassment – I don’t tend to like being in a metaphorical spotlight and to be in an actual one was unnerving – but for the company and our products it was a fantastic validation of the societal good our users are doing with those products.?

Given that our law enforcement customers have valid reasons for not wanting to publicise the tools and techniques they use to combat serious criminality, we tend to be quite circumspect about what we do and who we do it for, so we don’t get this kind of national plaudit very often – it’s great to get the recognition, but maybe it’s time to slip back into the shadows again.?

For anyone contemplating nominating themselves or a member of their team for next years’ awards, I’d say ‘got for it’. The annual techUK dinner was great event, packed with the great and good of UK technology, all with their networking antennae fully deployed ready to make contacts and spread their message. The exposure and platform that winning has given to me and Forensic Analytics couldn’t be bought and our only challenge now is working out how not to squander it.?

???? Get in touch with Forensic Analytics Ltd team! ????

• Website: https://www.forensicanalytics.co.uk/
• Email: [email protected]

• LinkedIn | Twitter

And make sure to connect with Joe Hoy to follow his work!

To find out more about the President's Award Winners click here.

?? About our Tech for Good work ??

At techUK, our mission is to champion our members and their technologies, preparing and empowering the UK for what comes next. We believe that by doing so, we can deliver a better future for people, society, the economy, and the planet. We are committed to supporting emerging social innovators who are tackling today's most pressing challenges through technology, while also demystifying tech for all. "The People Behind Tech for Good" are a series of interviews that aim to spotlight rising social innovators who are addressing today's most pressing challenges through technology.?

?? Find out more how to get involved with our #TechForGood work - email Tania Teixeira ([email protected]).

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