The desire to improve people's lives is at the heart of every meaningful innovation. Some of the greatest successes of the technological age were borne out of the refusal to accept the status quo and the need to challenge what was possible. Technology, in whatever form it takes, should help us to overcome the limitations of the world around us.
It is not difficult to see the similarities between the technology and charity sectors. Both should have, as their founding principle, the wish to challenge accepted attitudes and change the world for the better. So when charity and technology come together and unite under one common goal, it is possible to achieve remarkable things.
Technology, in whatever form it takes, should help us to overcome the limitations of the world around us.
Some 16 years ago we came up with the idea of a charity sleep-out event for the technology sector to help Action for Children support vulnerable children and young people across the UK. That was 1998 and few of those who slept out that night will have foreseen how the event would evolve over the next 16 years.
Byte Night has grown year-on-year and on Friday 4th October we will run seven separate events across the UK in Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Reading and Belfast. It has become a truly national event and is on target, this year, to raise more than a 1 million in just one night, making it one of the most impactful charity events in the UK.
This rapid growth would not have been possible without the considerable and sustained support we have received from the technology industry. We are incredibly fortunate to count some of the greatest minds in the UK technology industry among our friends and I doubt we would be where we are today, were it not for them.
