Techies in Residence

Match the social and community knowledge of the VCSE sector with the digital skills of tech experts and you have a powerful combination! Techies in Residence (TiR) was born in 2015 under Building Change Trust’s Social Innovation work , with the purpose of sparking ‘Tech for Good’ innovation in Northern Ireland. Since the completion of the Trust’s work in 2018, the Community Foundation has integrated the programme into its own work. The the fifth cycle was completed in May 2021 bringing the total number of projects supported to date to 32.

The Techies in Residence programme supports both VCSE organisations and Techies to adopt a ‘design thinking‘ approach to explore a social challenge, putting the service user at the centre of the experience. Together, they design, develop and test a technological solution to the challenge. They build, as a minimum, a prototype technological solution to the challenge, as well as helping to bring different ways of creative thinking to the organisations they work with. Following participation in the TiR programme, VCSE organisations have the opportunity to apply for a Seed Fund award for the further testing, development and/or public launch of their platforms.

Funding for the most recent cycle of TiR was provided by Comic Relief. Previous funders have included Building Change Trust, Comic Relief, Bank of Ireland and the Community Foundation.

TiR is supported by delivery partners Innovate-NI with additional learning support provided by CAST (Centre for the Acceleration of Social Technology), as part of the Catalyst Network.