an update of last night’s newsletter with the correct email address

Happy New Year!

If your New Year’s Resolution is to make technology better, you’ve come to the right place.

Since the last update, the Society for Hopeful Technologists has been busy. More than 100 people came along to our Open House events in November, and we now have a clear purpose, a work plan, a website, and an updated charter.

Our purpose and workplan

The Society for Hopeful Technologists is for everyone who wants technologies to work for people and planet.

We know from our survey last summer that 98% of you don’t feel represented by leading industry voices, but only 15% have confidence to take action.

Building on feedback from the Open House events, we are now creating a solidarity network for tech workers and the general public that:  

• Strengthens and activates Hopeful Technologists, so more people can make, advocate for and stand-up for the technology they believe in and want.

• Demystifies tech, by providing high-quality, accessible information about how technology works and its social, economic, and environmental impacts.

• Makes it easy for more technologists to be hopeful by sharing positive visions, skills, knowledge, resources and networks to inspire and support advocacy, ethical challenge, and share best practice.

We also have an updated charter, which you can read in full on the website.

Our plan is to launch a paid membership offering later this year. Before we do that we need to establish the organisation and set up our governance structures, which a group of us are working on in the background. We’re also developing the brand and designing an activity programme so we can continue to grow. There’s much to do, but there’s never been a better time to act.

Join us!

The Society is being run by volunteers; if you’d like to join the organising team, offer skills and expertise, or financial support, then email society@hopeful.technology. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks so much for reading - please do share far and wide with your networks, and we’ll be in touch soon with more opportunities to take part.

Yours, with hope (and, this time, better proofreading)

The SoHoT Organising Team