Baroness Martha Lane Fox, the founder of Lastminute.com, has called on the tech industry to invest in diversity and improve representation within the sector. Speaking at the DTX + UCX 2023 event, Lane Fox challenged other companies to “do the work” on diversity and highlighted the vast opportunities that lay ahead for business leaders who prioritize diversity and environmental matters.
Despite there being 30,000 female software developers in the tech space, Lane Fox acknowledged that the sector will never achieve gender parity at its current rate of growth. She also emphasized that the diversity conversation must go beyond just gender diversity, pointing out that there are still 10 million adults who do not use technology effectively or at all, largely due to socio-economic factors.
Lane Fox argued that the tech industry needs leaders who are intentional and focused on diversity and environmental issues to bring about real change. She predicted that the first trillionaire will emerge from the climate tech sector, highlighting the economic potential of sustainability initiatives.
During a panel discussion titled “Twist and Shout,” Sophie Neary, the Director of Meta Group, emphasized that organizations always have a choice when it comes to diversity. Neary stressed that talent is equally distributed, but opportunities are not, and encouraged companies to take action to make change happen. Warren Tucker, PwC’s Cloud & Digital Lead, added that rapid change across the sector is inevitable, with 40% of business owners believing that their current models will be obsolete in the coming years.
The event also highlighted the need for adaptation in cybersecurity and ethics in the face of AI and digitization. Speakers in cybersecurity sessions urged firms to enhance their defense systems against advanced cyber threats while promoting the responsible use of AI. Social engineer Jenny Radcliffe emphasized that although AI is brilliant, it cannot replicate what a human social engineer can do because people are inherently unpredictable.
Kelsey Hightower, former distinguished engineer at Google, touched on the hype surrounding AI and stressed the importance of making open source software sustainable and less dependent on enterprise needs. He urged individuals to focus on influence, authenticity, and sharing credit.
The DTX + UCX Europe 2023 event featured 18 stages with discussions and case studies on various tech topics, including cloud, networks, cybersecurity, DevOps, software engineering, UC, AI, and data. The event showcased the fast pace of change and exciting developments in the tech sector through product launches and landmark announcements.
Dominie Roberts, Content Director of DTX + UCX Europe 2023, expressed pride in the improved richness and diversity of the event’s programs. She emphasized the importance of businesses keeping up with tech change and learning scalable, sustainable, and inclusive strategies through events like DTX + UCX Europe.
As the first day of the event concluded, speaker Jon Arnold highlighted the significance of coming together to discuss the future. He emphasized the necessity of events like DTX + UCX Europe in shaping the tech industry’s success as it enters the next realm.
DTX + UCX Europe 2023 continued with a full lineup of activities on the second day at the London ExCeL venue. More information about the event can be found online.