How to ensure your tech is (or isn’t) trusted

Innovation has been on steroids this past year as many have sought ways to combat COVID. Vaccination and Application technologies have been at the forefront. But non-tech missteps have diminished the impact.

The early promise of AstraZeneca’s vaccination—transportation at standard refrigeration temperatures allowing existing medical logistics to apply—has been hampered by errant reporting of results and inflated production commitments. The technology works but its reputation is tarnished.

Contact tracing apps offered early hope of chasing down the disease by quickly helping carriers to avoid further spread. The tech was easy to use and freely available to a large swathe of the population. Some solutions adopted privacy measures to guard against fears of abuse. Unfortunately, these fears have been born out in a few jurisdictions. Good tech, bad PR.

Looking ahead, the promise of AI is in jeopardy if we don’t take measures to ensure against bias. AI learns by interpreting old patterns, so will naturally repeat those patterns—good or bad—unless it is specifically programmed to avoid them. No small challenge. Government legislation is just around the corner to protect against abuse. Some are working on the bias problem but we need everyone in the field to be thinking about this. To quote “machines learn their knowledge from humans, and humans are rarely impartial”.

The pace at which AI benefits accrue will depend on how quickly the industry addresses these concerns. Ironically, trust seems set to become a competitive advantage for those that pay attention.

Developing technical solutions to complex problems is tough. All that work can be squandered in a moment if market trust isn’t taken into account upfront.

What trust measures do you take?
Features are the unit of measure by which we scope a software solution*. Addressing trust requires its own feature category—often (usually) overlooked. What trust features do your products provide?

* The same principal can apply to any business—how do you ensure trust is nurtured in your sales and operations?

Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order your copy here.