Demos Events: Recent Episodes
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Small and medium sized businesses, from local shops to start-ups, are the backbone of our economy. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitisation of many SMEs - often without the necessary cybersecurity measures in place to protect their businesses. Yet with more and more people working from home, and increasing levels of business conducted online, SMEs are also under greater threat of cyberattacks. A new study conducted by Vodafone finds that over 1.3 million SMEs across the UK could go out of business in the event of a cyberattack. Our economy can’t afford this. With the current National Cyber Security Strategy expiring this year, we have a chance to build on the UK’s world leading cyber industry to invest in new technology and skills, help businesses protect themselves and raise cybersecurity awareness.
Join Vodafone and Demos to explore the role Government and industry can play in ensuring the UK’s small businesses are better protected online.
The Panel will be:
- Matt Warman MP, Minister for Digital Infrastructure at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Mike Cherry, Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses
- Emma Jones, Founder of Enterprise Nation
- Anne Sheehan, Director of Vodafone Business UK
- Polly Mackenzie, Chief Executive of Demos (Chair)
As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, our society is arguably more divided than ever. But over the last year, we’ve also seen communities come together, and the huge potential benefit of building a more cohesive nation.
In his new book, Fractured: Why our societies are coming apart and how we put them back together, Jon Yates, founder of the National Citizen Service and ex-government adviser, argues that the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to make a new ‘Common Life’ - a set of shared practices and institutions - to bring us together.
Join Jon and Demos Chief Executive Polly Mackenzie as they discuss their common interest in fixing our divided society, and an optimistic roadmap for the future of our country.
People living with a terminal illness, their loved ones and carers, and those who have been bereaved are increasingly turning to online spaces for information, help and support. But these spaces are not well understood, even as the Covid-19 pandemic has made the role of online spaces in supporting people through dying and grief profoundly more urgent.
Analysing over 100,000 posts across 7 online spaces from 2003-2020 where the dying, those who accompany them, and those who have been bereaved come to discuss their experiences, we have gained unprecedented understanding into the support they need and want and how this can best be provided, both online and offline.
In this panel discussion hosted by Demos and The Centre for the Art of Dying Well, we discuss what the future of the relationship between online spaces and support at the end of life ought to be and how government, health services and civil society can work together to bring this about. Speakers include:
- Margaret Doherty, Director of the Centre for the Art of Dying Well, St Mary’s University (Chair) Elinor Jayne - Head of Influencing, Sue Ryder
- Ciaran Cummins - Researcher, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos
- Dominic Carter - Head of Policy and Advocacy, Hospice UK
- Baroness Finlay of Llandaff FMedSci - doctor, professor of palliative medicine, Independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords, and Vice President of Hospice UK and of Marie Curie
The Covid-19 pandemic has both accelerated the trend of digitalisation, and highlighted how data and technology can support public health responses to even the most serious crises. However, public opinion divides on whether this acceleration is to be welcomed or feared. Demos and BT partnered to run a national conversation on these issues using the open source deliberation tool Polis. At this event, we present the insights from our research into public attitudes to responsible technology and discuss what the implications are.
Who decides how people’s data can be used? How do we build and deploy trustworthy technologies? And what action do we need from corporations and from government?
The event will be chaired by Polly Mackenzie, CEO of Demos, with Josh Smith, Demos’ Chief Technology Officer presenting the findings from our research. Speaking on the panel will be:
- Adrian Joseph OBE, Managing Director, Group AI and Data Solutions at BT
- Shabira Papain, Head of Equality, Health Inequalities & Digital Inclusion at NHSX
- Dr Mahlet Zimeta, Head of Public Policy at the Open Data Institute
The past decades have seen real progress in improving the diversity and inclusivity of workplaces: expectations that businesses recruit, support and maintain diverse workforces have never been greater. Yet this year we’ve seen the world of work turned upside down. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) recently highlighted that fairness at work - training and progression in particular - should be the next step to reducing inequalities in the UK. With this backdrop, Demos' Workshift Commission convened a solutions-focused panel event to discuss how the Commission’s recommendations could be rolled out to advance workplace fairness.
The panel was chaired by Demos’ Chief Executive, Polly Mackenzie, who is joined by:
- Kunle Olulode, Commissioner, Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities
- Julia Hobsbawm, entrepreneur, author and Chair of the Workshift Commission at Demos
- Trevor Phillips, Chairman of Green Park Executive Recruitment and NED of Mindgym
- Shakil Butt, Honorary Treasurer, CIPD
Join Demos and Legal & General for a panel discussion as we launch major new research mapping people’s personal priorities for their location against what’s actually currently on offer. The panel will discuss how Government and business can make our local areas fit the needs and wants of a post-pandemic population.
The panel is chaired by Demos’ Chief Executive Polly Mackenzie. Panellists include:
- Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP - Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Tera Allas CBE - Director of Research and Economics, McKinsey & Company
- Nigel Wilson - CEO, Legal & General
- Kitty Ussher - Chief Economic Advisor, Demos
The British Red Cross launch “Communities of Humanitarian Thought: The Case for Change in a Time of Crisis” an essay collection bringing together leading thinkers from political and civil society to mark the British Red Cross’ 150th year and to outline a vision for the future.
As we find ourselves collectively at a moment of reflection, we must take this opportunity to ask – what is the case for change in the face of crisis? Disasters and emergencies, health inequalities and displacement and migration are increasingly urgent humanitarian challenges facing the world. The question of how the UK should respond to these challenges at home and overseas has become even more pressing since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic
3 contributors to the collection offer their reflections: Nimco Ali OBE, Co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, and the independent Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls adviser to the UK Government, Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts and Patricia Hewitt, former Secretary of State for Health; alongside the CEO of the British Red Cross, Mike Adamson for a panel event chaired by Polly Mackenzie, Chief Executive of Demos.
Recent decades have seen institutions, such as employers and financial services, give people more choice and flexibility, but these freedoms have come with more responsibilities. Individuals are now responsible for managing more of their own financial risks, from ensuring they put enough money into their pension to securing affordable protection to be financially resilient.
Tune in to Demos and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) for an online panel discussion to mark the launch of new IFoA research and their Great Risk Transfer campaign. The panel discusses how risk management has changed in recent decades, and how policy makers can make sure individuals are able to manage new risks, including saving enough for a good retirement and securing care later in life.
Panellists include:
- Stephen Timms MP - Chair, Work and Pensions Select Committee
- Polly Mackenzie - Chief Executive, Demos (Chair)
- John Taylor - Immediate Past President, IFoA
- Vicky Pryce - Chief Economic Adviser and a board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR)
- Charlotte Pickles - Director, Reform
Who are the architects of the future internet? Be part of the debate, and join leading thinkers from government, tech and the public in securing a digital democratic future against its opponents. Now it's time to explore what good looks like.
Who are the architects of the future internet? Be part of the debate, and join leading thinkers from government, tech and the public in securing a digital democratic future against its opponents. Now it's time to explore what good looks like.
Who are the architects of the future internet? Be part of the debate, and join leading thinkers from government, tech and the public in securing a digital democratic future against its opponents. Now it's time to explore what good looks like.
Who are the architects of the future internet? Be part of the debate, and join leading thinkers from government, tech and the public in securing a digital democratic future against its opponents. Now it's time to explore what good looks like.
With increasing momentum for change in our social care system in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has never been more important to fix the social care crisis. Family, community and volunteers have played a hugely vital role during the pandemic and lockdown. Is there a greater role for family and community to play in a renewed care system? And if so, what should that be? Join Polly Mackenzie, Chief Executive of Demos, in conversation with Conservative MP Danny Kruger, as he sets out his vision for a place-based, community-centred approach to social care in a new pamphlet that will be published by Demos, supported by the County Councils Network.
The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a generational shift in the patterns of millions of people’s working lives. Business and workers’ experiences of remote working have shifted perspectives and priorities on both sides: however long the pandemic lasts, it is already clear that we will not get back to the way things were. We believe this shift offers a unique moment of opportunity to remodel our working places, and with them our working lives. The catalyst has been a physical shift in where we work, but the disruption has opened an opportunity to change far more about our workplaces than their location. This is a chance to finally acknowledge the economic and social costs of the outdated models on which our workplaces have been run for decades, and build an alternative way of working that is fit for the economy of the future.
The panellists were:
- Polly Mackenzie (chair), Chief executive of Demos
- Julia Hobsbawm, leading thinker and chair of the Workshift Commission
- Alan Lockey, Head of the RSA Future Work Centre and Associate Director RSA Economy
- Dennis Owusu-Sem, Founder of Success Talks and Relationship Manager at BMO Global Asset Management
- James Suzman, Anthropologist and author of Work
Demos and Twitter hosted a panel discussion on data, research and information operations, discussing the new trends in state-backed information operations, and the future of platform manipulation, the role of tech companies in making data available for researchers, and the challenges and opportunities for the research and media community in monitoring information operations. In 2018, Twitter first published a comprehensive archive of tweets and media associated with known state-backed information operations. This archive of information operations (IO) has expanded to include activity originating from more than 15 countries, and is now the largest of its kind in the industry. Totalling more than 54,000 accounts, 160 million tweets, and over 8 TB of images, GIFs, videos, and Periscope broadcasts, the dataset is extensive and offers researchers unique insight into how IO unfolds on the service. The speakers were: * Katy Minshall, Head of UK Public Policy, Twitter * Carl Miller, Research Director, Demos * Alexander Martin, Technology Correspondent, Sky News * Nahema Marchal, Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute
The government was due to release their white paper on devolution and recovery this year, outlining the government's plans for local economies. However, it's once again been delayed so it's never been more important to make the case for prioritising levelling-up the UK and how this needs to happen. To make this case, Demos and four universities (Birmingham, Cardiff, Surrey and Warwick) have published Achieving Levelling-up: The Processes and Structures Needed. Our report concludes that levelling up will be difficult but possible and that the existing system for managing local economic policy from the centre is dysfunctional: in the absence of change, there is zero chance of reversing the long-term trend towards greater regional inequality. Our research also suggests the nature of the change required: replacing funding competitions with a system in which targets for productivity, inclusivity and sustainability are set by the relevant local authorities, following negotiations with Whitehall. This requires Whitehall to up its game and provide leadership rather than simply management. It also requires strengthening local authorities’ capabilities, as well as measures to engage the public more actively and create more direct accountability for this area of policy.
The future of the internet is uncertain: with competing visions on the global stage, from whether the internet should be a means of social control; the pinnacle of free-market capitalism; or a tool to enhance democracy. The UK has taken a step towards defining its vision for a safe, secure and open internet through its Online Harms White Paper - but many questions remain unanswered about people's experiences of the online world and what they mean they want to see from regulation. In light of this, Demos carried out polling and focus groups to capture a snapshot of public opinion on online harms - what harms are people worried about? What are their experiences online? Who do they think is responsible for taking action - and how do they want different rights balanced online?
Tune in to this panel discussion with Demos and BT that discusses our findings and what this means for how we should be building - and regulating - a positive vision for the web.
Panellists include:
- Alex Towers - Director of Policy and Public Affairs BT (Chair)
- Alex Krasodomski-Jones - Director of CASM, Demos
- Ellen Judson - Senior Researcher, Demos
- Asheem Singh - Director of Economy, RSA
- Rt Hon Jeremy Wright MP - Former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Casey Calista - Policy Advisor, Glitch
- Sonia Livingstone - Professor of Social Psychology, LSE