FWDThinking Episode 15: The intersection of tech and society

Alistair Croll in conversation with Martha Lane Fox.

Published On Jul 30, 2021

All opinions expressed in these episodes are personal and do not reflect the opinions of the organizations for which our guests work.

 

Martha Lane Fox has quite the history in technology. After a career in tech startups, she founded Doteveryone to tackle the widening digital divide between those with access to technology and those who it was leaving behind.

She’s the youngest female member of the UK’s House of Lords, and she’s served on the boards of M&S, Twitter, and WeTransfer. Her manifesto for a networked nation, written in 2010, paved the way for the UK’s pioneering digital services.

For many people, these achievements might lead to caution, or even reticence. But it’s immediately apparent when talking with the Baroness—yes, she is in fact the Baroness of Soho—that none of this has gone to her head. She’s refreshingly plainspoken, and despite the manifold challenges of government innovation, remains an optimist.

Lady Lane-Fox will be taking the stage at FWD50 this November. We had a brief, but packed, conversation before she had to head to Parliament that touched on digital public service, the need for accessibility, the role of the private sector, and how the Digital Service movement around the world made us more resilient in the pandemic—and must continue to do so as we tackle the daunting global challenges we’ll face in coming decades.

She even brought her cat.

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