Tech platforms have changed our lives, in many ways for the better. Email and digital platforms have revolutionised business, as social media and dating apps have transformed our personal lives. While tech solutions have promised to make our lives easier, they have also affected wider society – and not always positively.

That’s what I want to discuss with today’s guest, Russ Shaw CBE. Russ had a high-profile career in telecoms, before founding Tech London Advocates in 2013 to promote and support startups and scale-ups and be an independent, grassroots voice for the community. This went global in 2015 with Global Tech Advocates (GTA), which is now present in over 40 hubs around the globe, with over 40,000 members. In 2019, Russ launched the inaugural GTA Festival, taking place in China and bringing the international network together for the first time. The second edition of the Festival was held in India in 2022.

Russ has been championing London and the UK as a global tech hub and campaigning to address some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing tech companies in the UK. Russ will be speaking and hosting events at the upcoming SXSW London and London Tech Week conferences, so look out for him there.

Produced by the Bloomsbury Institute London.