"If an autopilot fails, or a weapon system malfunctions, lives can and will be lost. As a result, significant checks, practices and concepts go into designing the software for such systems. But the code we, as developers in a wide range of jobs and fields, write can be just as critical - a delayed submission of a bank form because of a server error causes somebody to become homeless; a mistake on an immigration system causes a family to be deported; a misrouting of a delivery driver causes a car crash.

In this closing keynote we'll ask the question - how can we take what we've learned at the conference, and make a difference to our work. We'll examine lessons from how real mission critical systems work, and use these as inspiration for how we can do better, empowering our teams to use their skills & knowledge to make a difference. We can recognise that if all of our software is mission critical, we should make it our goal to build better things, and positively impact peoples' lives."

Comments

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Amazing talk.

The topic is relevant, eye-opening, and inspiring.
Great speaker.

Paul Conroy at 11:17 on 22 Mar 2025

This is a fantastic talk, with lots of really interesting takeaways on the real world consequences issues in our software can cause for people.
Mike is a very accomplished, engaging, and natural presenter, who presents some challenging material in a very entertaining way, super talk!

Youri Thielen at 16:18 on 22 Mar 2025

What can I say, just brilliant :)

Sergès Goma at 18:11 on 23 Mar 2025

This talk was really eye-opening regarding the worldwide social impacts software development can have and got me to think more.
Mike is such a captivating speaker that his words stay with you long after he’s finished talking.

An excellent choice for a keynote. Great content, and a good message. Mike's delivery was super smooth, not even missing a beat when the sound cut out momentarily.

Very well delivered and highly relevant talk, loved the link with nuclear safety