Behind the scenes of the world’s first safety tech expo

In the lead-up to Safety Tech 2021: Unleashing the Potential for a Safer Internet, the organisers discuss their plans and visions for the expo.

Sharing their thoughts: 

• Graham Francis (GF), Senior Policy Lead (Online Safety Technology and Innovation), Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) – DCMS is developing the safety tech market in products and services helping companies deliver safer online experiences and is bridging the relationship between technology companies and regulation. 
• Laura Gentile (LG), Partnerships and Strategy Lead, Sentropy – Sentropy provides online platforms with scalable abuse detection and behavioural intelligence technology. Sentropy allows online platforms to proactively remove toxic content before it harms digital communities and users.
• Tiffany Xingyu Wang (TXW), Chief Strategy Officer, Spectrum Labs and Co-Founder, Oasis Consortium – Spectrum Labs builds AI infrastructure for online trust and safety, empowering platforms to recognise and respond to 40+ disruptive behaviours in audio and text content across 30+ languages. Oasis Consortium convenes future-proof leaders to build actionable standards for user and brand safety. O.A.S.I.S principles are Openness, Accountability, Security, Innovation and Sustainability.

What sparked the idea for the world’s first safety tech expo?  

GF: “We (DCMS) made a policy commitment to run an expo as a response to a green paper published last year. The safety tech sector is growing exponentially, as it should, considering how vital online safety is in the digital world we now live in. This event is a chance to get more people to learn about, collaborate and put themselves on the front foot of the impending safety tech revolution.” 

Can you tell us about the event agenda? 

LG: “There’s so much to look forward to from expert speakers and panel sessions. There will be an insightful opening video with contributions from a number of leading safety tech companies; John Redgrave, our CEO at Sentropy, is involved in this. There are also a number of breakout sessions, including one on digital wellness which features Justin Davis, CEO of Spectrum Labs, and Tiffany Xingyu Wang is hosting a panel with the Oasis Consortium thinktank, discussing brand protection through user safety. 

“Michele Banko, CTO Sentropy, will be joining a panel discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and Hany Farid, one of the safety tech futurists who invented PhotoDNA, will be presenting – this is not to be missed!”

What do you hope people will take away from the event? 

TXW: “What is today’s landscape of Safety Tech; How we build digital wellness and user experience-centric moderation tools; How we define and determine Return on Investment (ROI) in Safety. These conversations will help build standards and references for the industry.”

“I hope we don’t stop at awareness, and collaborations are formed as a result of the expo – this is crucial for fast and effective growth of the industry. There’s a need for communities and brands to find suitable tools to help them deliver safer online environments. Through knowledge sharing and collaborations, we can achieve this faster.”

GF: “This event is going to be special. It’s the first event of its kind, bringing leaders in safety tech from across the globe together. There is going to be a continued pace in uptake of safety tech, as it becomes a requirement and the norm for businesses to adopt safety tech to create stronger and safer online communities.”

This event, taking place on Wednesday 24 March from 3:30 to 6:00pm (GMT), is curated by the DCMS, and the Department for International Trade, and hosted by CogX. Sign-up to attend the free event

More about Safety Tech 2021

View contributions from Hany Farid (inventor of PhotoDNA), Lena Düpont (Speaker for Child Safety in the European Parliament), leading cyberpsychologist Professor Mary Aiken, Joe White MBE (UK Tech Envoy to US), Jim Steyer (Common Sense Media), Ed Lewin (the LEGO Group), Sharon Pursey OBE (SafeToNet), John R. (Sentropy Technologies) and Vicki Shotbolt (Parent Zone) on the meaning and importance of safety tech.