by Billy Linehan
I was delighted to catch up with Máirín Murray, a leading light behind the Irish Tech for Good movement. We had a conversation about the Tech for Good community in Ireland, and what initiatives are happening and planned to support the people of Ukraine.
On 10 March, over a hundred tech workers attended a hybrid event ‘Ireland Supports Ukraine’, the physical location was the Web Summit HQ in South Dublin.
To date 14,000 people fleeing the brutal Russian invasion have sought refuge in Ireland.
“Hard to define, it’s in the name,” Máirín tells me. “It’s about harnessing technology. Harnessing tools for making things happen, to solve issues in society. It is something that is mediated and managed by humans, designed by humans, and can have an important part to play in providing positive social benefit. We believe that digital technology is a powerful tool that can be harnessed to tackle social and environmental challenges and bring about change.”
Tech for Good Dublin is a community which started in March 2017. This group is co-ordinated on a voluntary basis by Máirin Murray (Digital Doddle) and Ellen Ward (Concern Worldwide). Máirín and Ellen first connected on Twitter, and found that they shared an interest in ethics and philosophy. The community has taken off since, holding 50 events, and lists now 2,200 members, Tech For Good Dublin .
In a sense what’s happening for Ukraine is a good example for Tech For Good. With the Ukraine project, when Russia invaded, Máirín like most of us was horrified and shocked. To respond, she explained that the tech community must move swiftly, move beyond ideation to product making, design a solution, and release quickly. Tech solutions can be scalable, efficient and quick to deploy – all needed to address the humanitarian crisis created by an illegal war.
Máirín connected on Twitter with who she describes as an amazing guy, a Ukrainian tech professional based in Dublin, Anton Krasun (httpool). Anton at the time was starting his own projects supporting people in Ukraine.
The idea for Pryvit was presented at the event. Volunteers including Talita Holzer and her team at waytoB have come together since to bring it to life. You may have heard of Pryvit, featured in a previous Irish Tech News article. Pryvit is a website where companies across Ireland are making welcome offers to people who have fled Ukraine. Companies like Travelling Languages are offering free English language training, the Dublin Tech Summit in June is giving away free tickets and Diversein will review your CV for free.
The aim is to collect 5,000 offers from businesses large and small. The welcome offers are listed in both Ukrainian and English languages on the site.
Angie Gough’s helping irish hosts provides information for people who want to host refugees and was written by people already doing so.
IrelandhelpUkraine.com takes the contact details of potential donors and is managed by a Ukrainian living in Ireland.
Pauline Kwasniak & Rajat Maheshwari set up Finedeeds.com, a platform helping small charities in Poland to assist refugees.
Anton Krasun asks the thousands of Russian speakers in Ireland to cold call Russians over Putin’s propaganda. This is part of the international Call Russia campaign. See the website for more details Callrussia.org.
Learning & training, online courses for English language, happening soon, free courses
Factsharing project, fighting misinformation, and how to maintain people interested and informed in Ireland
Focusing on start-ups in Ukraine, how to support them to keep going?
Find out more about Tech For Good at this TEDx talk on YouTube
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