John Wood, Author at TUC Digital Lab

Union tech survey 2024 – some thoughts on the results

At the TUC Digital Lab, we get most of our good ideas from the unions we collaborate with. One such need we found recently was for unions to know more about the various IT tools that other unions were using.

The ideas was that by compiling a shared list of tools, unions could see where there were union colleagues that they could network with around best practice with specific tools, or ask for references for systems they might be considering. And they could see how their own tools and IT capacity measured up against the rest of the movement.

CAST’s AI survey: what we’ve learned, what we’re doing — and how you can get involved

Our friends at CAST have been looking into UK non-profits’ experiences and needs from AI. This blog shares their findings and what they’re planning to do next.

Video: Cyber security challenges and strategies for unions

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To launch our new report on cyber security for unions, author Simon Parry presented to a TUC Digital Lab webinar on the subject. This 30 mins video is a great introduction to some specific threats to trade unions, and where current trends are heading in cyber crime and responses to it.

Cyber security for unions

Cyber security underpins everything we do in unions to build up our digital systems and create a better digital experience for our members. Without the trust that our data is safe from attack any union would be severely compromised.

As data storage has moved online, this has seen an increase in the scope of digital threats. This has resulted in a new phase in the ‘arms race’ between cyber security and malicious actors, with innovation in both the threats and the responding security technologies.

Why recent email authentication changes matter to unions, and what we should do about it

In recent months, technical standards for all bulk email have been tightened. It’s started as a response to changes in the US, but as of this month will be affecting everyone. At the TUC, we’re seeing some cases of union email not getting through to the members and stakeholders we want to communicate with.

That’s a big risk to unions if we could lose the ability to communicate with members when we need to. There are ways to put it right though, and prompt action in union IT teams will hopefully avoid damage.

Migrating your union’s data to a new CRM

A TUC Digital Lab practical guide

Your CRM contains the heart of your union’s data. It manages your key interactions with members and your intelligence about what’s happening to the union over time. As such, migrating your data from one CRM to another absolutely must succeed in a way that keeps the integrity of that data, and that keeps it usable for the union’s core processes.

If you’ve been using your existing membership database for a long while, as many unions have, then you’ll likely have built up a huge number of workarounds and parallel processes. These can take a long time to unpick in order to bring them into the new system.

Unions and AI

Unions21 have created a 15 minute video offering a whistle-stop tour of the key capabilities of ChatGPT. It’s designed for union staff who may not have had time to play with the tool to understand it’s all about and think about how they might be able to use it in their work.

Four tech trends for unions in 2024

2024 marks the fifth year of our shared journey into digital change for unions, with the TUC’s Digital Lab programme.

Since we started, we’ve tackled best practice on digital in many areas of union activity, and worked directly with many unions to test new ways of working. And unions have done some brilliant work – Our case studies page just passed 50 great examples from across our affiliates, and more are coming in all the time.

We’ve tried to respond to affiliates’ changing needs as well. 2023 was busy with work around union core membership systems change, and supporting strike ballot campaigns, where we’ve seen real impact for unions using peer-to-peer tools to involve activists in turning out some historic votes.

As we turn towards 2024, we’re expecting to see more work on four broad areas for digital unions. Here’s a bit more about where we’re planning to take the programme over the next 12 months.

Digital tools to run check off to direct debit member switching campaigns

The TUC Digital Lab held a webinar on how unions can run the most effective online campaigns to switch members from check off dues deduction to paying via direct debit.

We looked into what would make a switching campaign more effective, in terms of tech, process and communications.

AI Summit is dominated by Big Tech and a “missed opportunity”, civil society orgs tell PM

More than 100 civil society organisations from across the UK and world have branded the government’s AI Summit as “a missed opportunity”. In an open letter to Rishi Sunak they warn the “communities and workers most affected by AI have been marginalised by the Summit” while a select few corporations seek to shape the rules.