The inaugural meeting of Tech for Good Cymru took place on the evening of 20 June 2024. Here’s a quick summary of events.

Background

The Tech for Good network is an established ‘network of networks’ that has branches in different countries and regions of the UK. A steering group called the ‘Tech for Good Organisers’ network‘ helps coordinate activity.

The map of branches shows groups in Wales, Oxford, ‘North east’ England, Exeter and a bunch of places around London.

The establishment of the Tech for Good Cymru meeting was initiated after meetings in June and September 2023 between an informal group of supporters.

The venue

PromoCymru generously provided both the venue and some food and refreshments for a crowd which probably numbered between 30 and 40. PromoCymru have form in social good and digital and were excellent hosts.

The activity

Following a short introduction to the Tech for Good concept, Arielle took us through the exercise she suggested to help collate ideas about different aspects of the nascent group.

For example, how can we make the group as welcoming as possible to people from a range of backgrounds and skill levels; and how should the network function in Wales? There were four groups in total.

I was in the group discussing the ways that the network could function, and I was really impressed by the positivity and creativity of the people around the table.

The exercise took about half an hour, after which each of the groups took turns summarising their discussions. The summaries were excellent, showcasing the wide range of backgrounds and opinions on offer.

The general atmosphere in the room was very positive; lots of people stayed to chat after the event, and I even got a few people to play with the two linux phones I’d brought with me (see here for more on that topic).

Actions

There are a few actions to follow from this. One is to have a note of the discussions and ideas – this is already underway thanks to Joseph!

The second is to have a group set up to allow members to communicate between meetings. This is also underway and we should have something on Matrix shortly. In case Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is of interest to you, you are very welcome to join the existing FOSS Wales Matrix group (link here).

There is also work to be done on the next meeting, but that’s a story for another day.

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to the team at PromoCymru who worked hard to organise the event, and who generously provided the venue and refreshments.

Thanks also to all the attendees who brought with them a really positive and uplifting sentiment.

I’m looking forward to the next one!