Tech Summit 2024

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Last week, we welcomed almost 300 people to Safety Net’s Tech Summit 2024 in Washington, DC. Registrants overcame weather-related travel difficulties to attend, and we are grateful for everyone’s commitment to being in this space and doing this work. For three days (four for state and territorial coalition staff who attended Coalition Day), we laughed, strategized, and built new ways to think and talk about how privacy and tech safety impact the lives of survivors of abuse and harassment.

We had over 30 brilliant and passionate presenters from around the world, including representatives from local and national domestic and sexual violence programs, academia, policy NGOs, the White House Gender Policy Council, and numerous tech companies. Presenters covered a vast range of content, such as: immigrant survivors and tech, what AI means for survivors and advocates, dating violence and tech, the importance of encryption in tech safety, and many more.

In addition to our expert presenters, we also had a large and impressive group of attendees. Attendees came from numerous US states as well as Australia, Belgium, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Advocates, technologists, attorneys, coalition staff, and others enriched the conversation as participants and presenters. Many attendees came from programs providing emergency shelter, transitional housing, non-residential services, and crucial legal assistance. Others teach coding and tech skills to survivors to help them gain financial freedom. All of them make a difference every day.

Throughout the conference, attendees discussed all aspects of technology safety for survivors, including:

  • How abusers misuse tech;

  • How survivors can strategically use tech to maintain their safety and privacy;

  • How tech public policy is made;

  • How agencies can use tech to increase accessibility and ensure privacy; and

  • The importance of designing technology with survivors in mind.

At the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), we work and play hard, and Tech Summit 2024 was no different. Receptions, dinners, snacks, networking opportunities, and informal discussions provided a chance for participants and presenters to connect and collaborate. The tech rotations included a walkthrough of Apple’s Safety Check feature for iPhone as well as detailed Q&As with Uber and ReloShare. Coalition Day featured facilitated, in-depth discussions about hot topics on confidentiality and tech safety with coalition staff.

We are thrilled that the conference was a success and it wouldn’t have been possible without the participation of everyone involved and the support of our generous funders. We appreciate the support of Presenting Sponsors Google, Meta, and Norton; Platinum Sponsors Amazon and Uber; Silver Sponsor Airbnb; and Bronze Sponsors Kaspersky, Match Group, and ReloShare.

We look forward to taking back many great ideas on how to make next year’s conference even better. The conference was filled with ideas on how technology safety can improve the lives of survivors of abuse and harassment. We are excited to provide that information in the coming year through technical assistance, new written materials, new e-learning content, and our ever-expanding training catalogue.

We are already gearing up for Tech Summit 2025, so send along ideas for what you want to see in 2025! If you were unable to join us for Tech Summit this year, you can see a little of the fun by looking at the agenda, checking out pictures, or searching for #TechSummit on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.