Earlier this week we worked with LSE to support them with their first Social Impact Hackathon…well done to the students for embracing the challenge!
Sometimes, the problem, the people and the purpose just click. That’s what happened during the 2025 LSE Social Impact Hackathon. Over two intense weeks, I joined a group of brilliant and committed students to respond to a question that should be at the heart of every future-of-work conversation: What does inclusion really mean and who keeps getting left out? We focused on something that felt both urgent and invisible: the digital exclusion of disabled people in Haringey and Hackney. In a world where job applications, training, and benefits have moved online, being digitally disconnected means being actively shut out. For many, not having a device or a reliable internet connection, or not knowing how to navigate an online system, translates directly into long-term unemployment, isolation, and lost autonomy. We learned that 15% of disabled people in the UK have never been online and 35% lack essential digital skills for life. In boroughs like Haringey, 40% of working-age disabled people are out of work. Moreover, that assistive tech and support are often only available once you’re already in work, creating a cruel paradox for those trying to enter it. So we set out to imagine what it would look like to flip the script. Our proposal pushed for rethinking how infrastructure like Project Gigabit could be used to adress the gap. We designed a model rooted in accessibility and co-production, with community-run digital hubs, peer-led support, and direct partnerships with disability confident employers. We also showed that the economic case is as strong as the moral one: over £1.3 billion in potential public value if just 17,000 disabled residents enter the workforce. Beyond the numbers, this experience reminded me what inclusive change really takes: trust, listening, and making space for the people most affected to lead. To the organisers, thank you for trusting students with real problems and expecting real answers, especially Impact Reporting, and to the judges Ben White, Iona McArdle FRSA and Deborah Pullen MBE. To the amazing team behind the Hackaton, specially Anna Koukoullis And to my teammates Aikaterini (Katie) Kappatou, Avi Jain, Poshika Seemakurti, Jamellah Elegio and Anna Rybalko. #SocialImpactHackathon #DigitalInclusion #Disability #FutureOfWork #LSE #Hackney #Haringey
