By guest blogger: Paul D Jagger, Court Assistant, Worshipful Company of Information Technologists @CityandLivery
If you study the history of AbilityNet, you’ll soon discover that the leading IT Accessibility charity grew out of IBM in the last 1980s, around the same time as I joined the IT industry working for an IBM business partner, and later started a career with Big Blue itself. IBM remains a corporate sponsor of AbilityNet to this very day.
CAPTION: Paul Jagger welcomes guests to the Livery Hall of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists for the first ever Tech4Good Awards Winners Dinner.
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and its charity has also supported AbilityNet since the earliest days of the Company, and for the past nine years it has been one of the leading sponsors of AbilityNet’s Tech4Good Awards. It’s no coincidence that AbilityNet’s Chairman and CEO are both members of the Information Technologists’ Company.
This year AbilityNet wanted to try something different by bringing the Award winners together with members of the Company and representatives from other sponsoring organisations to share their stories and identify opportunities for further collaboration. The idea of the Tech4Good Awards dinner was born, and WCIT Charity agreed to provide the venue and funding for the event.
It was my privilege to open the first Tech4Good Awards dinner at IT Hall on the evening of 27th September 2018, and more importantly it was an honour to meet many of the Award winners, hear their inspiring stories of using technology for good, and foster a deeper collaboration among all those present.
The whole evening was characterised by a buzzing energy of enthusiasm and aspiration, and the informal dining arrangements allowed everyone to mingle and share their stories, learn from others and identify ways in which individuals and organisations could support each other.
AbilityNet has set a very high standard with the success of its first Tech4Good Awards dinner and I hope and expect the event will now become a regular fixture of the Tech4Good Awards calendar.
