The Secrets of Successful Technology Delivery with Laura Dawson

The Secrets of Successful Technology Delivery

Following two #Tech4Good episodes in a row looking at how entrepreneurial technology has made an impact on volunteering in the UK, and on childcare in East Africa, we now switch back to UK charities, and hear from sector veteran, Laura Dawson .

In today’s episode, I discuss with Laura her experiences as a CIO, and what she has seen working with charity technology - and also where she has seen the same problems repeatedly occuring.

Listen at https://virtuevirtuosity.com, search for ‘Virtue & Virtuosity’ on your podcast player, or scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter for links to the latest episode on your chosen player.

Virtue & Virtuosity Episode 8: The Secrets of Successful Technology Delivery

Today’s episode is more of an ‘in-conversation’ episode, rather than focusing on case-studies. I talk with Laura Dawson who has had a long, distinguished career as a tech leader in many well known organisations, and now chairs the Charity IT Leaders group, as well as helping organisations with digital technology leadership.

We discuss the challenges of ‘marzipan layers’ in organisations. Laura describes how digital transformation can get stuck when those beneath the executive layer in organisations don’t effectively lock arms and work together. Laura outlines how organisations can get better at decision-making, and how understanding how technology decisions are made is key to unlocking how a programme moves from idea to plan to implementation. And of course we also talk about AI - and the danger of using it to cover the cracks in your organisation. That’s all just a teaser - there’s a lot more to listen to - put your headphones and check it out over on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube - or even Google Podcasts which got a temporary lifeline and is still around for another month.

Next Week

Did someone mention an election? We’ll be skipping the episode next week due to the election… on the assumption that you’ll be keenly tuning in to find out if Sunderland makes it to be the first constituency to declare - or if someone beats them to it.

Podcast Links

Remember – follow on your favourite podcast platform, today, so that you don’t miss an episode.

https://virtuevirtuosity.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0G3vGA98kpk6biZqQVsSVL?si=005d3205859d4668

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/virtue-virtuosity/id1742994475

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5hbGl0dS5jb20vNjMxMTUxOTE

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VirtueVirtuosity

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Virtue-%26-Virtuosity-id6126681

RSS feed: https://feeds.alitu.com/63115191

(please ask if you think there is somewhere I else I should be publishing, and I’ll endeavour to add it!)

Guest Profile

Laura over 30 years’ experience as a senior digital technology leader in education, public and charitable sectors. In her latter roles, she was Global Chief Information Officer for the British Council and the CIO for the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as leading the technology teams at RSPB and Save the Children, UK.

Laura is now Chair of Charity IT Leaders and a Governor of West Herts College Corporation. She runs her own business for digital technology leadership, Leaderly Consulting, which focuses on digital technology leadership in the not-for-profit space. She is particularly keen to bridge the language divide between different specialisms in the workforce and the top of the shop, to help organisations design the right technology solutions and thrive, making the best use of their investment in technology. She is passionate about building business acumen in technology teams as well as investment in ‘power skills’, helping technologists understand the importance of their organisational context and move from being theoretical to practical.

She has a passion for nature and conservation and in her spare time enjoys walking and swimming. As a Watford FC fan, Laura has learnt to manage her expectations expertly. She also has a collection of over 70 board games (but not Monopoly).