Radical Engineers at Tech for Good - Are we being radical enough?

At Radical Engineers, we connect radical organisations working on bringing about post-capitalist economies, communities of care, or waste eradication with our growing community of software developers and designers. So when this meetup's #TechForGood, coordinated by Bethnal Green Ventures and CAST, was on the theme 'Are we being Radical Enough?', we at Radical Engineers were excited to attend. There were three talks at this event and I have summarized my takeaways below:

The talks

Cassie Robinson believes that there has been too much plaster sticking in society and so it currently feels overwhelming as to where to start. When thinking about where to start, Cassie cites the 'two loops' model and the three horizons model as starting frameworks for thinking about how organisations can change to a tech for good model. On leadership, Cassie is looking to new and different models of leaders. She asks: 'how are we going to champion and resource people who we need to be the leaders of the future?' Cassie also questions the narrative of Venture Capital being a good basis for funding activities. Some money will always need to be invested for public good rather than returning investment.

Indy Johar - We have about 5 years to make a meaningful change to combat the climate crisis. It may need a profound restructuring and transformation of global supply chains and global consumption. And the starting philosophy of economics needs to change from one of rivalry to one of cooperation. The value of spaces come from the 'monopolistic access to common goods'. If property prices go up is comes from the increased value of this access. If we want to make change, we have to make change to deep structural systems. Social Impact Bonds, for example, are an accounting trick to bring forward future value. CEO's may suggest that their employees are assets but they sit on the books as expenses. When national leaders like Donald Trump and Xi Jinping threaten trade wars, they are doing so from a philosophical background of rivalry economics, and other economic philosophies do exist and could be brought to the focus of practical economics. The challenge for the Tech for Good scene is to introduce these ideas into their conversations. Social enterprises fix small problems; for radical change, we need to address these ideas at a national level. Also, give yourself time to think. Anyone who says 'just do' can frequently only do the things already know how to do. Take a moment to think and then you can act to fix the system.

Carl H Smith - How can we use the power of technology to radically change lives and the environment for the better? Can we transform ourselves from a transhumanist to a posthumanist or hyperhumanist model? Examples of such technology include: augmented reality goggles which increase the appearance of your food to help you diet, a second thumb on the same hand which you can use as readily as your current hand, programmable synthetic hallucinations; a group calls the trans-species society creates technology which allows humans to experience traditionally animal-only experiences like echolocation and hammerhead vision. What kind of human abilities would come out if we can enhance beyond our current capacity our intelligence, our strength, our imagination? And would a true appreciation of our biological position on this planet (not as the top of the food chain but part of a bio-diverse community) enable us to reintegrate ourselves into the planet and see existence in inter connected ways? If we can embrace our role not just as members of the planet but feeling part of the planet as a whole, it will shift our vision so we choose not to harm ourselves.

If you're interested in hearing more about Tech for Good meetups you can follow their meetup page.