Session
Organizer 1: Jim Prendergast, 🔒The Galway Strategy Group
Organizer 2: Samantha Dickinson, 🔒
Organizer 3: Arden Haselmann, Adapt
Speaker 1: Zoe Darme, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Faraz Farzin, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Marlena Wisniak, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
Speaker 4: Fiona Alexander, Distinguished Policy Strategist in Residence, American University
Speaker 5: Charles Bradley, Manager, Knowledge and Information, Consumer Trust at Google
Speaker 6: Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager Partnerships and Engagements, Paradigm Initiative
Speaker 7: Richard Wingfield, Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR
Jim Prendergast, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Arden Haselmann, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Samantha Dickinson, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: We chose the roundtable format because we believe it presents the best opportunity for a highly interactive and collaborative session. Routables encourage engagements and participation from everyone involved. They can lead to more open and honest conversations and foster collaborative learning. They are also the best suited style for the breakout groups we want to use. We are requesting 90 minutes because of the breakouts. We need ample time for participants to share their ideas in groups and with the entire room.
How does meaningful stakeholder engagement lead to products that advance human rights and inclusion in the digital world? What makes engagement with stakeholders “meaningful?” How can companies develop products that have rights respecting, shared purpose with their end users?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will be introduced to the concept of meaningful stakeholder engagement and hear from practitioners in business and academia about their real-world experiences. By using case studies of how stakeholder engagement was used to develop globally-available products, the session will highlight and discuss best practices for participants who want to embed meaningful stakeholder engagement in their work. Participants will be asked for their input on how to improve stakeholder engagement via breakout groups.
Description:
Stakeholder engagement is essential for ensuring that tech products and technology related public policies are not only technically sound but also socially responsible, user-centric, and aligned with broader societal needs and values. By actively involving stakeholders throughout the development process, tech companies and governments can create products and policies that are more relevant, sustainable, and impactful. This approach to product and policy development is vital to advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age.
Our session will feature a panel of experts who have been on both sides of this equation.
Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager Partnerships and Engagements, Paradigm Initiative and Richard Wingfield, Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR will share their experiences bringing in external expertise into the development of new products and policies.
Charles Bradley, Manager, Knowledge and Information, Consumer Trust at Google will share insights on a range of engagements, discussing what worked and what he has learned along the way.
Fiona Alexander, Distinguished Policy Strategist in Residence, American University, will share examples from her time at the US Department of Commence where stakeholder engagement in the development of technology related policies was beneficial.
We will then engage with the audience to discuss what was presented and participants will be encouraged to develop their own ideas on what can be done to foster more meaningful stakeholder engagement to advance human rights and inclusion in the digital age.
In addition to participants learning what Stakeholder Engagement is, we are looking to develop a list of best practices and suggestions on how to take Stakeholder Engagement to the next level.
Hybrid Format: We will ask all participants, both in person and remote, to be logged into Zoom so we can manage the question queue in a neutral manner. Our onsite and online moderators will be in constant communication to ensure that we can facilitate questions and comments from both onsite and online participants. We will also consider the unique challenges and opportunities that remote participants face, such as time zone differences, technical limitations, and differences in communication styles. During the breakout sessions, our online moderator will serve as a discussion facilitator for those participating online. We will urge our speakers to use clear and concise language, avoid technical jargon, and provide context for all information discussed during the session to ensure that both onsite and online participants can follow along and understand the content.
Report
Stakeholder engagement is essential for ensuring that tech products and technology related public policies are not only technically sound but also socially responsible, user-centric, and aligned with broader societal needs and values.
Stakeholder engagement is about more than just gathering input; it’s about fostering dialogue, building trust, and co-creating solutions that are technically robust, socially inclusive, and aligned with universal human rights principles.
Keys to successful engagement include narrowly targeting the scope of the engagement, ensuring the organization has the political will to get this done, engagement has to be meaningful and you have to resource the engagement appropriately.
Meaningful stakeholder engagement may require upfront investment of time and resources, but it also typically yields better products and polices in a shorter period of time.
During our “Better Products and Policies Through Stakeholder Engagement,” experts from diverse fields came together to discuss how meaningful collaboration can lead to responsible innovations. The discussion, moderated by Jim Prendergast, featured insights from Richard Wingfield (BSR), Thobekile Matimbe (Paradigm Initiative), Charles Bradley (Google), and Fiona Alexander (American University). The session underscored the challenges and transformative potential of engaging stakeholders in policy and product development.
A Framework for Responsible Innovation
Richard Wingfield set the stage by emphasizing the importance of grounding stakeholder engagement in established frameworks like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These principles serve as a roadmap for organizations to align their actions with societal values and human rights standards. Wingfield stressed the need to prioritize engagement with communities most at risk and highlighted the value of tailoring approaches to local contexts, whether addressing cultural nuances or language barriers.
“Meaningful stakeholder engagement takes a long time but is critical to responsible business,” Wingfield noted. He acknowledged that while the UN framework provides a solid foundation, its practical implementation requires companies to establish actionable strategies. BSR’s five-step approach to stakeholder engagement—from mapping and preparation to action planning—illustrates how organizations can translate these principles into meaningful practices.
Proactive and Inclusive Engagement
Thobekile Matimbe provided a perspective on the need for proactive, rather than reactive, stakeholder engagement. Drawing from her experience with the Paradigm Initiative, she highlighted the importance of meeting communities where they are, rather than relying on one-off meetings that often fail to capture the breadth of local challenges. She underscored the “do no harm” principle, urging companies to ensure their products respect human rights and address the needs of marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities.
Matimbe shared a proactive engagement by a telecommunications company in response to research on surveillance in Africa. Unlike many others, this company sought input directly from civil society organizations, illustrating how proactive approaches foster trust and generate actionable insights. “It’s crucial to meet the community where they are, not just cherry-pick organizations,” she asserted, calling for broader and more inclusive dialogues.
Bridging the Gap in Product Development
Charles Bradley brought an industry perspective, sharing how Google has integrated stakeholder feedback into its product development processes. Highlighting examples like Circle to Search and Google AI Overviews, Bradley illustrated the tangible benefits of early and meaningful engagement. For Circle to Search, Google’s consultations with privacy and human rights experts led to significant design changes, including stronger user controls and enhanced transparency.
“Stakeholder engagement at the start leads to more successful product launches,” Bradley observed. He also acknowledged the internal challenges, such as ensuring that expert engagement is seen as additive, rather than a speed bump to launching a product. However, by framing engagement as a pathway to better, more trusted products, Google has begun to embed this practice into its culture. Bradley’s insights demonstrated that stakeholder engagement is not only feasible but also essential in a fast-paced tech environment.
Lessons from Policy Development
Fiona Alexander gave insight into governmental policies, reflecting on her experience at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She emphasized that stakeholder engagement is most effective when guided by clear problem statements and sustained political will. Recounting of the U.S. government’s multistakeholder processes, Alexander highlighted the complexities of balancing inclusivity with efficiency.
“Stakeholder engagement isn’t a checkbox; it’s about building lasting relationships,” she said, underscoring the need for governments to commit resources and foster trust over time. Alexander also cautioned against overreliance on regulation, noting that while frameworks like the EU’s Digital Services Act can drive accountability, their long-term effectiveness remains uncertain.
Addressing Unique Challenges in Africa
Matimbe’s reflections on stakeholder engagement in Africa revealed unique challenges and opportunities. She described an environment marked by repressive governments and limited corporate engagement, yet teeming with potential for collaboration. The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum, an annual event convening stakeholders from across the Global South, exemplifies how inclusive platforms can amplify diverse voices and foster actionable dialogues.
“Proactive stakeholder engagement ensures policies respect human rights and address real user concerns,” Matimbe reiterated, inviting more companies to participate in such forums to better understand the lived realities of communities they aim to serve.
Building a Collaborative Future
The session concluded with a shared recognition of the progress made and the road ahead. Panelists agreed that collaboration across sectors is essential to addressing the complex challenges of modern technology and governance. Transparency, long-term relationships, and tailored strategies emerged as recurring themes.
“We are a lot further advanced than we were ten, twenty years ago,” Wingfield observed. Yet, as Alexander noted, “The more transparent we can all be in all of this, the better it will be for everyone.”
From refining frameworks to fostering proactive engagement, the session highlighted that better products and policies require not just collaboration, but commitment. The discussions served as a powerful reminder that meaningful stakeholder engagement is not an optional add-on but a cornerstone of responsible innovation.
Audience Participation
We had 20 minutes of interaction with in-person and online attendees.
Video of the session can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqNJUTQgBjw