Session
Organizer 1: Jim Prendergast, 🔒The Galway Strategy Group
Organizer 2: Samantha Dickinson, 🔒
Organizer 3: Arden Haselmann, Adapt
Speaker 1: Zoe Darme, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Faraz Farzin, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Marlena Wisniak, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
Speaker 4: Fiona Alexander, Distinguished Policy Strategist in Residence, American University
Speaker 5: Charles Bradley, Manager, Knowledge and Information, Consumer Trust at Google
Speaker 6: Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager Partnerships and Engagements, Paradigm Initiative
Speaker 7: Richard Wingfield, Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR
Jim Prendergast, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Arden Haselmann, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Samantha Dickinson, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: We chose the roundtable format because we believe it presents the best opportunity for a highly interactive and collaborative session. Routables encourage engagements and participation from everyone involved. They can lead to more open and honest conversations and foster collaborative learning. They are also the best suited style for the breakout groups we want to use. We are requesting 90 minutes because of the breakouts. We need ample time for participants to share their ideas in groups and with the entire room.
How does meaningful stakeholder engagement lead to products that advance human rights and inclusion in the digital world? What makes engagement with stakeholders “meaningful?” How can companies develop products that have rights respecting, shared purpose with their end users?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will be introduced to the concept of meaningful stakeholder engagement and hear from practitioners in business and academia about their real-world experiences. By using case studies of how stakeholder engagement was used to develop globally-available products, the session will highlight and discuss best practices for participants who want to embed meaningful stakeholder engagement in their work. Participants will be asked for their input on how to improve stakeholder engagement via breakout groups.
Description:
Stakeholder engagement is essential for ensuring that tech products and technology related public policies are not only technically sound but also socially responsible, user-centric, and aligned with broader societal needs and values. By actively involving stakeholders throughout the development process, tech companies and governments can create products and policies that are more relevant, sustainable, and impactful. This approach to product and policy development is vital to advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age.
Our session will feature a panel of experts who have been on both sides of this equation.
Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager Partnerships and Engagements, Paradigm Initiative and Richard Wingfield, Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR will share their experiences bringing in external expertise into the development of new products and policies.
Charles Bradley, Manager, Knowledge and Information, Consumer Trust at Google will share insights on a range of engagements, discussing what worked and what he has learned along the way.
Fiona Alexander, Distinguished Policy Strategist in Residence, American University, will share examples from her time at the US Department of Commence where stakeholder engagement in the development of technology related policies was beneficial.
We will then engage with the audience to discuss what was presented and participants will be encouraged to develop their own ideas on what can be done to foster more meaningful stakeholder engagement to advance human rights and inclusion in the digital age.
In addition to participants learning what Stakeholder Engagement is, we are looking to develop a list of best practices and suggestions on how to take Stakeholder Engagement to the next level.
Hybrid Format: We will ask all participants, both in person and remote, to be logged into Zoom so we can manage the question queue in a neutral manner. Our onsite and online moderators will be in constant communication to ensure that we can facilitate questions and comments from both onsite and online participants. We will also consider the unique challenges and opportunities that remote participants face, such as time zone differences, technical limitations, and differences in communication styles. During the breakout sessions, our online moderator will serve as a discussion facilitator for those participating online. We will urge our speakers to use clear and concise language, avoid technical jargon, and provide context for all information discussed during the session to ensure that both onsite and online participants can follow along and understand the content.
Report
Stakeholder engagement is essential for ensuring that tech products and technology related public policies are not only technically sound but also socially responsible, user-centric, and aligned with broader societal needs and values.
Stakeholder engagement is about more than just gathering input; it’s about fostering dialogue, building trust, and co-creating solutions that are technically robust, socially inclusive, and aligned with universal human rights principles.
Keys to successful engagement include narrowly targeting the scope of the engagement, ensuring the organization has the political will to get this done, engagement has to be meaningful and you have to resource the engagement appropriately.
Meaningful stakeholder engagement may require upfront investment of time and resources, but it also typically yields better products and polices in a shorter period of time.