Tech Companies can choose to do more Good

By Tony Clark, Founder, Resilience Tech-Forum and CEO, 2-Dooz Inc., June 11, 2023 (update of original article published on September 16, 2022)

Last year, my company, 2-Dooz, announced the Resilience Challenge 2022, a fundraiser to support veterans participating in a clinical study that explores the relationship between stress and suicidal ideation.  The raised funds are being used to compensate veterans for their time commitment to the study and for study equipment that enables their participation.

The announcement of the challenge was met with a lot of positive feedback, but one long-time friend and former coworker asked me a question that gave me pause: "Why are you doing this?"

At first, I was taken aback by the question.  It seemed like such an obvious answer to me: we identified a problem that we believe we can help solve.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my friend's question was actually quite revealing.

In recent years, tech companies have become known for single minded focus on profit at all costs.  Tech companies have been accused of everything from exploiting their workers to contributing to the spread of misinformation.  In this environment, it's understandable that some people might be skeptical of a tech company's motives when it comes to doing good.

However, I believe that there are still plenty of us in tech who are committed to using our skills and resources to make a positive impact on the world.  As stewards of tech, we need to demand more from our industry.  Tech needs to assert societal leadership once again.  We need to step up to the existential challenges that are confronting us all.  We are world-class problem solvers.  It's time to reallocate some of our bandwidth "to doing good."

The Resilience Tech-Forum is a focal point for how tech companies can use their resources to make a difference.  We can either continue to be complicit in the problems that plague our world, or we can use our expertise to make a positive difference.  I believe that we can choose to do more good.