The 5 Minute Tech Break : Apr 26

Hey Everyone

End of another week and it's been a big here in the UK for making people (and hopefully government) thinking more deeply about climate change and the environmental consequences.

#extinctionrebellion staged a series of peaceful protests across London, joined at one stage by the 16 year old activist Greta Thunberg.  Annoyed some commuters and right wing commentators, but achieved its purpose of bringing this incredibly important issue to the front of our newspapers and minds.

As senior managers or those aspiring to be so, we all have a responsibility to consider what impact our decisions are making on the planet, so we wanted to dedicate this weeks newsletter to the topic of climate change and wider ethical considerations.

Hope you find the links interesting.

Jason & Andrew
https://cto.academy


Documentary of the week :
Climate Change,The Facts

If in any doubt about what is happening around us, you need to sit down and watch this BBC documentary by Sir David Attenborough.

It is uncomfortable but very necessary viewing.  

12 Ways The Tech Sector Can Help Save The Climate In 12 Years

Article originally released by the World Economic Forum and lists the following ways tech should be helping ... 

1.  Become genuine climate guardians
2.  Making algorithms climate smart
3.  Using social media for good
4.  Design for a future on earth
5.  The future is circular
6.  Reward low-carbon consumption
7.  Make information more useful
8.  Create new standards for digital advertising and marketing
9.  We are what we eat
10.  Future of transport is data
11.  Clean energy living and working
12.  Create liveable cities.

It's a huge problem but operating on the basis of marginal gains, if everyone makes small changes to their lifestyles and business, based on what is best for the planet ... fundamental and critical changes can take place.

Full article from the WEF is available to read here

Does Your Company Have an AI Ethics Dilemma?

There are other ethical considerations to confront as senior technical managers, particularly with how change and technology impacts wider society. 

This is an article that looks into AI ethics for companies.

While added agility, capacity, and capabilities are welcome additions to any enterprise, blind adoption of AI technologies can come with unintended and unforeseen consequences. Most businesses may not be creating AI, but they may be starting to use a set of tools and processes that fall under the concept (through AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and others). Companies that are new to these AI tools may be asking themselves: Do I have to “care” about AI ethics? In short, this article says the answer is yes.

Quote of the Week

"Climate change is analogous to Lincoln and slavery or Churchill and Nazism.  It's not the kind of thing you can compromise"
James Hansen

And you thought this was always a light touch newsletter ... sometimes we just have to get serious.

Quick sales note - don't forget if you've purchased our full package of courses, you are entitled to a free mentoring session so ... get in touch if you'd like to book a slot.

Otherwise, we hope you have a wonderful weekend.