Tech Mirror

“How do we ensure technology makes our lives better?” – Johanna Weaver, CEO of the Tech Policy Design Institute.

Tech Mirror explores how technology impacts our lives: the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

Technology is made by humans. When we refocus on this foundational truth, it opens the possibility that technology can be made differently.

Questions about how we might shape technology differently are not just “technical” questions. The answers to these questions go to the very core of the fabric our societies.

Just as there is a variety of diverse voices involved in the development of health policy, or national security policy, we need more people to actively engage in tech policy discussions.

Through interviews with the movers and shapers, and analysis by experts and opinionated guests, this podcast will empower you to participate in policy discussions to shape the technologies that will shape our future.

The Social and Moral Imperative to Act

In this episode Johanna speaks with Alice Dawkins, Executive Director of Reset.Tech Australia, an independent, non-partisan policy initiative wrestling with questions about online harms & safety, digital information markets and democracy.

Everything is Content Moderation

Johanna speaks with Evelyn Douek, assistant Professor at Stanford Law School (and former corporate lawyer in Australia), about the public and private regulation of speech online.

Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future

In this episode Johanna speaks with author and journalist Tracey Spicer about her new book, Man-made: how the bias of the past is being built into the future.

Keeping Pace: The Case for Digital Regulation

In this episode of Tech Mirror, Johanna is in conversation with Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), one of Australia’s lead regulators in the area of technology and digital platforms.

Shutdowns and Spyware: Human Rights in the Digital Era

Johanna speaks with Brett Solomon, co-founder and Executive Director of Access Now, about the state of digital rights in 2023.

Tech & Democracy: Brain Surgery in a Taxi

In this episode of Tech Mirror, Johanna speaks to Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent think tank and school of public policy based in Bangalore.

Digital Identity: Waking Sleeping Gorillas

In this episode of Tech Mirror, Johanna speaks to Amit Singh, a member of the expert panel appointed by the Australian Federal Government to oversee an independent audit of the government digital services platform, myGov.

Bonus Episode: Cracking the Code: IWD 2023

The theme of IWD this year is Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future. In this episode Johanna interview leading women in tech policy within the margins of the Raisina Conference in India. Prepare to be inspired as they share their career journeys, examples of how tech is driving gender inclusion, and offer advice for women consider a career in tech.

Privacy is Not Dead

In this episode Johanna brings together a group of Australian privacy experts to discuss the Federal Government’s Privacy Act Review and to share their perspectives on the reforms that have been proposed and what might happen next.

Converge

Dr Catherine Ball, businesswoman, futurist, and ‘dame of drones’ sits down with Johanna Weaver in the studio to discuss her new book ‘Converge’, which takes readers on a (mostly) optimistic journey through technological breakthroughs that will shape our future.

Security by Design or Disaster?

Professor Lee Bygrave, Director of the Norwegian Research Centre for Computers and Law in the University of Oslo, joins Johanna in the studio to discuss security by design.

NetThing 2022

This week we are bringing you a discussion that we recorded as part of NetThing 2022 – Australia’s Internet Governance Community Forum. Johanna was joined by Kate Pounder, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia, and Richard Windeyer, Deputy Secretary at the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.