War, famine, global warming, discrimination and inequality – these are all big social problems happening on our planet right now.
But how do we tackle these issues? This is where TechForGood organisations come in. TechForGood is all about using technology to solve social and environmental issues and create a positive social impact.
TechForGood companies aim to tackle the biggest problems the planet faces – including climate change, food inequality and social justice.
In this episode, Krista Griggs, Head of Financial Services and Insurance at Fujitsu UK, explores the world of TechForGood and why more women should be a part of it.
With over 20 years’ of experience in designing and implementing digital transformations across various business domains, Krista is changing the way Fujitsu helps its customers transform their business. She’s built a strong team of consultants who bring deep business and technical expertise.
With their support, Krista is constantly looking for innovative ways to help Fujitsu’s customers succeed and grow. In recognition of her ongoing commitment to financial services and technology, she was a finalist for Role Model of the Year in the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2022, Top 100 Women in FinTech 2022 and Transformation Leader of the Year in the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2021.
hello everyone and thank you for tuning
in as always I am Kaylee batesman the
content director at chican code and
today we are discussing tech for good
now tech for good is all about using
technology to solve social and
environmental issues and create a
positive social impact companies in this
area aim to tackle the biggest problems
the planet faces including climate
change food inequality and social
justice so today we have Krista grips
head of financial services and insurance
at Fujitsu UK here with me today to
explore the world of tech for good and
why more women should be a part of it
welcome Krista
thank you thank you Haley uh great to be
here yeah thank you so much for joining
us today can you kick off with a little
bit of a background about yourself to to
set the scene for our listeners today
yeah of course um so I’m uh uh Dutch
actually originally
um but now I’ve been in in Britain for
about uh 22 years now so a little bit of
a hybrid in many ways and I started my
career in software development
um and what I loved about that was the
ability to create new things to make
things easier for for people and uh for
for whether that’s end users or
colleagues
um and so that’s been something that’s
been really a passion for me all the way
through my career as I’ve progressed
through becoming an architect working in
different domains so Financial Services
the friends uh central government
Logistics and it’s really been that
Curiosity uh that for me has driven my
passion to continue to develop things
um and I carry that very much with me
now and and so I’m a i director a sector
now
um so uh more a leader and less of a
technologist but it’s really having that
passion for technology and the impact it
can create that
um differentiates me and that means that
I can add value to what we do sounds
like um you’re another one of our ladies
that we speak too often who say you know
they didn’t plan to come into Tech that
they did lots of careers before before
they came into it and did you did you
know before you came into Tech is that
was that a draw to the tech sector
actually the impact that that you can
have
um yeah I think it was actually so so
absolutely the it’s the it’s the ability
to create things
um through the technology so it’s never
it never has been for me from the start
of uh the uh falling into a career in
Tech because it was a little bit like
that
um it was it was never about the
technology itself it was actually being
being able to to make a difference
and I think that’s more common for women
generally anyway and that’s not to say
men aren’t uh driven by the same but but
I think
um maybe women have more permission to
be driven by purpose
um I don’t know what what’s really
behind it but um but yeah so for me it
has absolutely been a vehicle for for
being able to make change and make a
difference yeah and I think it’s
something that a lot of people don’t
realize as well about the tech sector
um until you come into it that there is
the opportunity to make an impact there
and even if you don’t work in the area
of tech for good obviously um which we
are going to be discussing today
um so if we jump in with
um our first question for you is what
exactly is tech for good
so the power of technology is is
incredible and especially now with uh
all the changes some of it’s been driven
by people using more digital channels
because of the pandemic and lockdown
people becoming more accustomed to doing
um you know grandparents having Zoom
calls or video calls with your
grandparents people are becoming much
more uh in tune with being able to uh
use technology as part of everyday life
um and and as a consequence the tech
sector is continually driving things
um but the the key with that is there’s
massive power but therefore there’s also
risk there’s risk in terms of who are we
leaving behind through doing this
there’s risk through uh are we building
it for competitive advantage or are we
building it to do the right thing for
that society and so I it’s one of the
things that
um worries me to be honest around the
the ethical
uh how do we Define the ethics uh around
what we’re building and and is what
we’re building actually the right thing
because often especially new
technologies are considered to be geeky
topics and therefore it attracts
um more men generally than women and
because it has this Association that
it’s geeky and it’s really technical
um but actually in reality it can be
really beautiful uh but but only if we
intend it to be so
yes yeah and it’s interesting now that
it you
um talk about risk and and not leaving
people behind in our intentions
um I think um that’s an incredibly
important part because I think people
might come into the tech sector with the
idea that they can come in and they can
make change and they can do good and
perhaps if they join the wrong company
they might not
um actually find that opportunity for
them so I think it’s it’s about making
sure that um if you if you do not just
enter the tech sector uh with the plan
of um you know going into tech for good
but that you join a company that
encourages you to you know create your
own environment and where you can
actually you know
um make an impact but I think that
absolutely depends on which company you
pick and what their mission is and
whether they’re transparent about you
know what they actually plan to do
um why do you think uh tech for good is
important have you already mentioned
obviously the changes there with covid
and how much technology in society has
changed
um why why do you think it’s important
nowadays
so so I think every business now as a
technology company every business is
underpinned by implementing different
Technology Solutions to make it easier
more accessible so many and more
accessible in many ways and safer in the
context of covert pandemics and things
like that but
um it sort of comes back to therefore
technology you can’t get away from
technology and there isn’t enough talent
and there are more and more women
getting into technology and then there’s
more diverse Workforce but if we look at
technology it’s still very much a
male-dominated area
um and not by intention generally but by
simple unconscious buyers about not
having enough voices in the room when
you’re talking about what you want to
create when you’re designing it when
you’re testing it it’s all the way
through the life cycle by not having
voices with diverse backgrounds who are
considering
um all of society by not representing
all of this Society in the team who is
focused on creating new technology and
new businesses
um you just forget people just forget
and often not intentionally so and
that’s why I think it’s really important
that
um women as 50 of the of the of the
population uh as as one
um demographic group but but more more
broadly people from lots of different
backgrounds uh do have a voice do take
their voice and do get involved and
understand that actually maybe they’re
not that technical but maybe it is the
other part that is the value that they
add there’s plenty of people who’ve got
the technology skills and they can be
learned but it’s about having the values
and and the uh skills that you’ve got as
an individual that you can bring to add
to the conversation that can really make
a change and that can really uh create
uh solutions that are better for society
because if you look at the metaverse and
the way that we’re consuming different
services from entertainment from travel
education it’s it’s everywhere it’s the
way we we buy
um and so it’s really important to me
that women have a voice in all of those
environments and where the decisions are
made about what we’re building
yeah I I absolutely agree I mean um you
see it in the Press don’t you wear
um a product has been released and as
you say there hasn’t been diversity at
all levels and somehow a product has
made it through to release and you think
right there just been one person along
that way that just would have said you
know what this isn’t going to work or
that doesn’t
um quite work for certain individuals in
society
as you as she said that you know it’s
not just about having people in the
techie roles or what we assume are the
geeky roles but even right through to
launch um you know with uh PR and um as
you said testing and you know so many
areas to get something live
um you’re absolutely right it’s not just
uh encouraging more diversity in the
tech roles which you say as you said
there are other more male dominated
roles
um uh traditionally
um can you give us some examples of tech
for good in action
yeah absolutely so there’s there’s a
huge range so
um one area is around creating uh
Technology Solutions
um that make it easier so so for example
um the introduction of uh cards for for
people who were less fortunate or who
were isolated or Neighbors in the
pandemic
um they they were created very quickly
to help and support people and similarly
now with the cost of living we’re seeing
things be so I’m from Financial Services
environment so that’s where I I know a
lot of what we do so now we see things
being introduced like providing more
information around financials uh and
financial education to make better
decisions around advising what you can
do to manage your spend more than
anything it’s roundups to help help you
save but but also
um around and making sure that things
are better for disabled people so one of
our uh one of our customers have been
working we’ve been having conversations
with them around how we can do more like
this
um where um people with epilepsy can be
triggered by uh by flashing lights and
so with this customer built with zoom a
new feature into Zoom to make sure that
you can filter out so Zoom will
automatically detect the right and
appropriate levels of flashing images
and will dim if you switch on this with
setting it will dim the flashing lights
so that people don’t get accidentally
triggered by flashing lights on a zoom
pool for example and it’s really simple
things like that but also we see a lot
for example we do a lot with blockchain
because in the less developed world uh
there’s there’s agriculturist there’s
farmers who don’t necessarily have
access to anything other than a mobile
phone and being able to create a
backbone to help those Farmers have
access to to be able to trade and grow
so those are a few examples
and I think as well what was nice here
is you covered such a spectrum of of
ideas because I think when people think
techs are good they think it has to be
um on an international basis it has to
be as we mentioned um in the intro you
know we talk about climate change and um
you know it it could cover
um war or you know finding a cure for
cancer or whatever it may be but
actually you you really took that down
to everyday things like communicating
easier with your family and um cost of
living crisis obviously which is a huge
thing at the moment so I think it’s um
sometimes people might think actually
I’m going into that area because I have
to solve these massive world problems
and actually day to day and you can
still be helping people
um on on a daily basis
um on a smaller scale and still be
working in in tech for good
um I think as well uh you just reminded
me they’re talking talking about
um the the examples there that you
offered it reminds me of when um I used
to work a lot with the not-for-profit
apps for goods
um because when I was with uh that’s a
good day
um it’s the children
um that used to come up with the ideas
for their apps and um obviously um in
terms of tech for good and the ideas
that they came up with it was so
wonderful to see children who
um could just see the world completely
different to an adult as well and they
didn’t overthink it they didn’t think
how would the tech work would it you
know make money or anything like that
they just they just saw it as a simple
there’s a need and they come up with a
solution I remember a child telling me
once
um that you know water shortage in
certain countries and he said but if we
have uh you know we have all that sea
water there why don’t we just come up
with an idea of how to make that water
you know drinkable and you know it was
just so innocent the way that he just
said it you know he didn’t he didn’t see
barriers he just you know came up with
an idea
um and and went with it
um but yeah I think sometimes as adults
we might talk ourselves out of of ideas
like that
but that’s exactly the point why having
diversity is really important because
children have a completely different
perspective and therefore they’re not
conditioned by what’s expected uh what
Society expects what’s the right thing
to do and and
um and so they often do have really good
ideas and and what you’re talking about
are you know there’s lots of different
ways that we Harvest water and our
drinkable water to support uh people in
in uh in dire need of that as a
consequence of
um the global warming
um but but it’s it’s exactly that point
of having different perspectives and no
one would come if when you have group
think when you have lots of people who
are the same you will come up with the
same idea and you’ll go yeah that’s a
really good idea and then you develop
that further because everyone’s in their
comfort zone and so by adding different
voices it can feel really uncomfortable
but it’s those uncomfortable
conversations and actually saying you
know what I don’t agree because because
of this because of that and have a
feeling empowered
um to to be able to say that put your
hand up and say I I don’t agree it’s
it’s I I don’t see things that way
um and being able to then have a safe
environment have the conversation that’s
where the magic happens that’s where the
Innovation happens and that’s where
where tech for good is is sort of a
topic that’s really that I’m really
passionate about because it’s having
those different perspectives and the
whole conversation what I was saying
about the the change the feature in Zoom
was all because someone actually got
triggered with epilepsy
um and so it’s not it’s only if you
bring people who are from different
communities that you would get access to
information like that
um so I think it’s really important to
better represent society that you’re
serving in developing technology
yeah yeah absolutely and that that
actually
um leads me to my next question about
you know why is it so important that we
get women involved in in tech for good
and I think you really addressed it
there and having that and diversity of
thoughts
um do you think you know women bring
bring anything else in uh in in that way
you mentioned at the start you know
women might bring different traits as
well um and and maybe you know working
for a company that has more of a purpose
might be more suited
um for females is that is that something
that you see yourself
yeah absolutely so I think when you’re
that there’s a couple of things to do
that
um so
when you bring diversity generally what
you find is when you make something
better for one person you make it better
for society
um I was recently uh saw a post by
someone who was at an airport where
there was a really big ramp which was
obviously created for wheelchair users
but actually almost everyone used the
ramp there were toddlers there were
people with uh who were struggling to
walk because they’ve broken a bone or
there were
um so many different people people
carrying their luggage around and and so
actually when you create something for
one part of society generally you create
something that is better for everyone
um and we see that in in culture surveys
as well so in teams that have got uh
higher um gender diversity we see better
engagement scores in other words by
making the team better set up to support
women who may have different needs
um it actually creates an environment
where everyone feels better supported uh
and and therefore so I think that’s one
of the powers of bringing diversity and
specifically bringing women into a team
there’s a real
um and this sounds really uh
generalizing and I don’t intend to be
generalizing but but by and large women
are socially a little bit more capable
of bringing people together so actually
often women are really good team leaders
they bring the team together
um and they create a more
um authentic culture
um and that’s another thing where you
find that often men feel more
comfortable in a space like that as well
um and so those are some of the benefits
that adding diversity and adding women
into teams can have
yes yeah and definitely and we’ve spoken
a lot there about
um the benefits of adding more women
into a team how do you think
organizations can encourage more women
to you know go into tech for good
um and to to feel like they can make a
difference in that area
so there’s lots of different ways and
and we’re within our company so I’m uh
co-chair of our Women’s Business Network
as well so I see quite a lot of what we
do and it’s very data driven and it’s
really around looking firstly
um it is a a known fact that women will
only apply for roles when they feel they
can can meet 100 of the requirements
rather than men who often at 50 60
they’ll they’ll have a go
um and so it’s about how you write your
job specs how you present yourself out
uh what policies you have in place to
support women specifically or carers of
any kind and again this goes back to if
you do it for women because you think
that they’re looking after kids actually
you find that people look after elderly
neighbors or family members and and
giving that
um ability for men to con to be able to
do that as well uh means that everyone
is the well-being for everyone is
improved
um so so it’s providing all the
different policies uh it’s provided it’s
celebrating and having Role Models so I
think role models are really really
important as well in showcasing you
can’t be what you can’t see it’s a very
simple saying but actually it’s very
true so uh again it’s celebrating the
women in Tech that you’ve got and and
um showcasing uh that it’s encouraging
women in or girls in technology as well
because it’s even at that level where
that change happens so getting involved
with universities and and schools and uh
and bringing the women in Tech and say
talking about what they’re doing and the
impact that they’re having
um so those are some of the ways that
you can encourage we can encourage more
women and I mean we have very strict
rules about making sure that there’s a
diverse set of candidates for any
interview for any role so it’s being
deliberate about the values that they
have as a company and actually living
them through how you implement your
policies and how you actually behave
yeah it’s interesting you say they’re
about
um going to the universities and
speaking to the students um and and
ensuring that they know you know the
jobs that are available and what they
look like because I I think you’re
absolutely right there there’s a skill
shortage in Tech and actually you
encourage those young women to say you
know here’s what you can do it’s not
just about coming in and and putting on
a pair of headphones for the day and
doing some coding that you can actually
really make a difference
um to society and this is the real world
impact that you can actually have within
technology you think there is there is
that stereotyping it’s always going to
be there unless you know we try and have
conversations like this
um and as as you mentioned going into
universities and just sharing the fact
that you know technology
um you get to work across a range of
sectors when you work in the tech sector
um and that you can really make a
difference and I think that’s something
that perhaps a lot of young students
really don’t now and don’t understand
and as you say it’s about getting those
ladies out there to say this is what I
do and this is this is how I make a
difference why are we likely to see in
the future uh for the tech for good
sector
I think it’s a hugely growing sector at
the moment I mean the energy space is a
really good example where there’s
there’s an enormous amount of uh
investment in decarbonizing so so that’s
one area and it touches on everything
because it touches on on transport and
therefore manufacturers and Retail and
travel
um and so that’s very very big
um and I think also consumers are now
demanding that the companies that they
buy from
um are are showing more than just making
money that they are committing to a
purpose and they show that commitment
um and therefore consumers are demanding
that employees are demanding that so um
I think it’s a it’s a huge uh space and
that comes down to the diversity
um and and just being
um more open
to to delivering better outcomes for
society yeah yeah and I think a lot of
our ladies um so a lot of our ladies
their first and second jobbers and
they’re quite Junior ladies and they
always wonder how to get into certain
areas uh of technology I think as we’ve
mentioned there’s always that stereotype
that you have to study computer science
and come in and do a coding based role
um as obviously from your experience as
well you
um have had quite a range of jobs
already before you came into tech for
our ladies listening they wanted to move
into tech for good is there is there a
certain route there or do you think it’s
you know even approaching somebody in
your own company perhaps and and you
know starting a new project or you know
are there any any tips there that you
that you would share
yeah absolutely so the key thing for me
is to be curious so understand for
yourself what is it that you’re
passionate about what is it that gets
you basically get up in the morning and
then look at what happens in that space
so go and find out do some research and
then see if you can even on a voluntary
basis start getting involved and just
observe what’s happening
um or or read books or follow podcasts
for example there are a lot of different
ways where you can learn a little bit
and then reach out and then it’s really
about having the confidence to say
actually I’d love to learn a little bit
more about this could you could you help
and when you reach out to people in a
way like that then most people feel
flattered because you are seeing them as
knowledgeable and therefore they’re
quite happy to help generally so it’s
really about understanding what you’re
passionate about bring that passion and
then be bold and be curious
yeah yeah that’s that’s great advice and
I think um you just saying they’re
asking people uh as well and making sure
that it sounds like you know you that
you’re asking for their support and
their help I think that’s something that
we struggle with now a lot of us are
working from home making those
connections to be able to reach out to
somebody and say I want to do something
new I want to start a new project and
because perhaps you might not have those
connections that you would have had if
you were in the office of all time
um or you know even I think in-person
events is something
um that you know we’re starting to get
back into that Rhythm um but it was some
definitely something at the start that
you know we missed out on uh for some
time
yeah absolutely
um and it’s it’s getting involved in any
sort of networks most companies have got
women’s best business networks or other
networks but getting involved in
anything that gets you exposed to
different people uh is a good way of
trying to to learn a little bit more yes
yeah
lovely okay well we are out of time I’m
afraid and so thank you so much for
joining us today um Krista the the
conversation has been it’s really really
interesting I’m sure our ladies will
find it
um extremely useful so thank you so much
for for coming in and sharing your
insights today fantastic thank you thank
you so much it was really enjoyable
thank you and for everybody listening as
always thank you for joining us and we
hope to see you again next time
