Tech helps tackle trafficking and modern slavery, but industry needs a culture shift to eradicate it

Human trafficking and modern-day slavery claim more than 40 million victims worldwide and generate an estimated $150bn, second only to drugs in annual illegal profits. It is an issue in every country, with 13,000 estimated victims in the UK, although many believe this is a serious underestimation.

With increasing global legislation and its own UN Sustainable Development Goal, modern slavery is a very real and increasingly high-profile issue. It has also become a much more high-profile concern within the public consciousness and recently featured in the BBC police drama, Line of Duty.

It is also an issue that the technology sector is not immune to – and we must face it head-on. Many actors within the industry are making an impact already, but there are challenges that we must address if we are to eradicate these practices.

TechUK has been active in attending international conferences in the UK and Europe, working with the UK government, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international partners to make this a true global, sectoral effort.

Overall, technology has a huge role to play in tackling modern slavery, but we must recognise its limitations. Technology is a tool – a transformative tool – but a tool all the same. A recent TechUK conference concluded that tech tools can only work when there is a strong anti-slavery corporate culture, willingness to act, well-trained staff, and when there are meaningful partnerships between the provider and the end-user or beneficiary.

For non-governmental organisations (NGOs), this means training staff on the ground. For the multinational corporation with a complex global supply chain, it means having corporate leadership that will act on abuses and take responsibility. For police, it means having the processes to follow up leads and make sure information derived from cutting-edge tech is shared efficiently across agencies. In short, it means real partnership with robust processes in place.

Modern slavery is high on the agenda among TechUK members. As well as helping them with reporting, developing their corporate strategies and due diligence, TechUK has been involved with Tech Against Trafficking, a coalition of tech firms seeking to get effective technology into the hands of those working on modern slavery.

Just as crucial as the tech tools themselves, the initiative aims to form partnerships between the private, public and third sectors so that the tech can be in place and have the strongest and most meaningful impact.