"Empowering lives through Tech" 

ONLINE EVENT

Russ Shaw is the founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, an unrivalled collection of tech leaders, experts and investors uniting the most influential groups in tech. Amongst many of the minority working groups launched through TLA is Tech for Disability. Russ will talk to Stewart Harrison a local teacher championing digital skills education in Gibraltar, about closing the Digital Skills gap and using technology to empower people with disabilities. 

The event will commence with a presentation about SYNERGISE a platform dedicated to support students and or young persons to overcome their individual challenges and achieve personal and educational growth by three incredible women Valli Fragoso Founder of local startup Cobovec, creators of SYNERGISE, Nicole Torres Byrne the Department of Education's Supported Internship and Supported Employment Coordinator & Debbie Borastero MBE Chairperson of The Gibraltar Disability Society. 

Join us 15th October 10:30 am - 11:30 am and support the cause when you purchase an event ticket, money collected will be donated to the SYNERGISE project. 

This is a discussion you do not want to miss bringing together our local talent and the UK's leading advocate in technology for progress.

SYNERGISE has affiliated with the Gibraltar Disability Society a recognised NGO that continually lobbies for the identification and removal of barriers (e.g. physical, procedural, visible, invisible, intentional, unintentional) that inhibits participation and contribution. Ensuring that equitable treatment does not necessarily mean treating everyone the same and that treating people fairly may require different approaches that do not imply a lesser standard of performance. Striving for an inherent commitment, demonstrated through actions, that recognises and values these differences to aspire for a truly diverse community. A society where every person who has a disability will have the choice and control to live the life they choose.

Russ Shaw is the founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates. He originally founded Tech London Advocates in 2013 to ensure an independent voice of technology sector was heard, but with a focus on the private sector. Since then he has been championing London as a global tech hub and campaigning to address some of the biggest challenges facing tech companies in the UK – diversity, digital skills, immigration, infrastructure and access funding. Key achievements for Tech London Advocates (TLA) include successfully campaigning for the introduction of a Chief Digital Officer for London and placing digital jobs on the Shortage Occupation List for the first time. 

Russ is a founding partner of London Tech Week, a London Tech Ambassador for the Mayor of London and Advisory Board member for Founders4Schools and the Government’s Digital Skills Partnership. He is a Trustee for Modern Muse Charity, which supports young women and girls who want to study STEM subjects. He is one of the world’s leading experts on the success of London’s tech ecosystem and has been invited to tech hubs around the world to share his experience. In 2019, he was named to the London Evening Standard’s Progress 1,000, a list of the most influential people in the capital. 

In a recent City A.M. article Russ wrote "Tech has been punching above its weight for years — outstripping much of the economy on growth and job creation before the pandemic. During the lockdown it kept the country going, and now will have a leading role to play in fuelling our national recovery. Consequently, digital skills will become a core component of our way out of the mess — this economy will demand very different talents to the economy that closed back in March."