Tech for all - The Churchill Fellowship

Tech for all

In this programme, we are seeking applications that explore technology’s potential to work better for everyone.

Following four years of the Tech for all programme, we are extending this work for a further three years to respond to the accelerating influence of technology on systems, services and people’s lives.

Through the programme so far, Fellows have explored how technology is developed, applied and governed across areas such as healthcare, justice, education and public services. Their work has highlighted both the opportunities technology creates and the challenges it presents in practice.

Technology is now embedded across everyday systems, with artificial intelligence and data-driven tools increasingly influencing decisions that affect people’s rights, access to services and life chances. While these developments offer significant potential, they also raise complex questions around ethics, accountability, access and unintended consequences.

Many of these questions remain unresolved, particularly where technology intersects with public interest. There is a need for practical, applied work that engages directly with how technology is used and experienced in real-world settings, and how it can operate in ways that are fair, transparent and beneficial to people and communities.

This programme will continue to support individuals working closest to these challenges, enabling them to learn from international practice, develop new approaches and share insights that can improve systems, services and outcomes. At the heart of the Fellowship is the expectation that this learning is applied to drive change in the UK.

Innovation in technology is largely shaped by commercial priorities. While this brings significant investment into developing new technologies, less attention and funding is given to understanding how they are used and experienced in public and social contexts, and their impact on people and systems.

There is a continued need for informed, practice-based work that considers:

  • how technology is shaping public services and societal systems
  • how it can be used responsibly, transparently and accountably
  • how access, inclusion and agency can be improved
  • how unintended harms can be identified and addressed

This programme takes a human-centred approach. Technology is a means, not the end, and the aim is to maximise benefit for people and communities.

Projects can come from any area of society, but should fall into one or more of the following categories:

  • Creating benefits for people and communities
    Using technology to improve services, systems or outcomes, particularly where this leads to better access, experiences or opportunities for individuals and communities.
  • Addressing risks and harms
    Identifying and responding to negative impacts of technology, such as bias, lack of transparency, surveillance or online harms, and exploring how these can be mitigated.
  • Expanding access and inclusion
    Making technology more accessible, usable and equitable, so that more people can participate and benefit from it.

We are less likely to support projects that:

  • are primarily driven by commercial objectives without a strong public-interest rationale
  • lack a clearly defined problem, system or community focus
  • do not engage with how technology is used, developed or applied in practice
  • function only as isolated case studies without broader relevance

When developing your application, we encourage you to:

  • start with a clearly defined real-world problem or opportunity
  • explain how technology is or could be shaping that issue and how the project will engage with it
  • show potential to improve services, reduce inequality, or strengthen systems and contribute to change in the UK

We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds including those with technical expertise and those working closely with technology in real-world settings.

We are particularly interested in applicants who engage directly with how technology is used, shaped or applied. We are not expecting applicants to build new technologies, but we are looking for those who can meaningfully engage with how technology operates in practice.

We encourage applications from: 

  • people working in sectors where technology is actively shaping systems and decision-making, including manufacturing, energy, transport, education, healthcare, justice, and local government
  • individuals applying technical or data expertise to societal challenges
  • individuals with lived experience of the issues they wish to address, including those working at grassroots level.

These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.

2026

Milosz Bruski

AI Wellbeing Infrastructure for UK Prisons: International Evidence & National Implementation

Stephen Hilton

Festivals for All: The Future of Audio Description

Jacob Ohrvik-Stott

Strengthening UK policy and laws for preventing harmful AI companionships

Felix Peckham

How the police can harness AI to deliver justice for victims of sexual offence

Ganna Pogrebna

Teaming with Machines: What UK Leaders Can Learn from Global Human–AI Collaboration Models

Colleen Sheridan

Designing Digital Spaces That Support Mental Health and Social Harmony

Jonathan Taylor

Who’s Watching the Machines? Keeping Patients Safe in UK Hospitals

Helen Vaterlaws

Guide-Dog and Tech Together: A UK Framework for Sight Loss Mobility

Josiah Wilson

Learning from Japan and Singapore: Responsible AI Frameworks for use in NHS Elderly Care

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

2025

Lyndsey Dearlove

Enhancing Digital Safety: Improving Access to Tech-Savvy Support for Survivors

Cara Hunter

Impact of AI Harm: UK Democracy & Female Political Participation

Bethany Linder

Technology and Dementia: The Future of Dementia Care

Peter Metherall

From Printer to Patient: Transforming Surgery with Realistic 3D Models

Jake O'Gorman

Future-Proofing UK Charities: Lessons From US AI Innovations

Melvin Riley

Catalysing Youth voices in Shaping the Future of Emerging Technology

Ruth Shaw

How Artificial Intelligence can ethically empower charities and young changemakers

Craig Steele

Exploring how Generative AI can be taught in non-formal learning

Vaishali Kale

AI and Nursing - The Potential of Robotic Aids in UK Healthcare

Phoebe Whitlock

How can Artificial Intelligence democratise access to justice

____________________________________________________________________________________________

2024

Sophie Adams-Foster

Humanising AI in Manufacturing: from Factory Floor to the Future
Kate Arrow

From Japan to the UK: Technology-Based Solutions for Healthy Ageing

Maryam Arshad

Revolutionising healthcare with Cutting-Edge Machine Learning Technologies

Elisa Cavatorta

Innovating Inclusion: a VR-Based Approach to Combat Bullying in the UK

Holly Emblem

Making an AI Education Available for All

Joe Kallarackal

Reducing digital healthcare inequality for ethnic minority groups

Rebecca Payne

Technology enhanced healthcare for remote communities

Adam Groves

Shaping a society-wide response to new 'child online harms'

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2023

Daria Cybulska

Central Asian field guide to civic organising online

Sarabajaya Kumar

Inclusive Tech: Co-creating Robotics & AI with Disabled Communities

Emma Pickering

Creating best practice for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse

Katie Schwarzmann

Tech for all? automated decision-making in the immigration system

Ritvij Singh

Artificial Intelligence: applications in homelessness

Amy Watson

Beyond the selfie: Improving tech safety for children

Prefer a Word document?

Download the full programme brief

Following four years of the Tech for all programme, we are extending this work for a further three years to respond to the accelerating influence of technology on systems, services and people’s lives.

Through the programme so far, Fellows have explored how technology is developed, applied and governed across areas such as healthcare, justice, education and public services. Their work has highlighted both the opportunities technology creates and the challenges it presents in practice.

Technology is now embedded across everyday systems, with artificial intelligence and data-driven tools increasingly influencing decisions that affect people’s rights, access to services and life chances. While these developments offer significant potential, they also raise complex questions around ethics, accountability, access and unintended consequences.

Many of these questions remain unresolved, particularly where technology intersects with public interest. There is a need for practical, applied work that engages directly with how technology is used and experienced in real-world settings, and how it can operate in ways that are fair, transparent and beneficial to people and communities.

This programme will continue to support individuals working closest to these challenges, enabling them to learn from international practice, develop new approaches and share insights that can improve systems, services and outcomes. At the heart of the Fellowship is the expectation that this learning is applied to drive change in the UK.

Innovation in technology is largely shaped by commercial priorities. While this brings significant investment into developing new technologies, less attention and funding is given to understanding how they are used and experienced in public and social contexts, and their impact on people and systems.

There is a continued need for informed, practice-based work that considers:

  • how technology is shaping public services and societal systems
  • how it can be used responsibly, transparently and accountably
  • how access, inclusion and agency can be improved
  • how unintended harms can be identified and addressed

This programme takes a human-centred approach. Technology is a means, not the end, and the aim is to maximise benefit for people and communities.

Projects can come from any area of society, but should fall into one or more of the following categories:

  • Creating benefits for people and communities
    Using technology to improve services, systems or outcomes, particularly where this leads to better access, experiences or opportunities for individuals and communities.
  • Addressing risks and harms
    Identifying and responding to negative impacts of technology, such as bias, lack of transparency, surveillance or online harms, and exploring how these can be mitigated.
  • Expanding access and inclusion
    Making technology more accessible, usable and equitable, so that more people can participate and benefit from it.

We are less likely to support projects that:

  • are primarily driven by commercial objectives without a strong public-interest rationale
  • lack a clearly defined problem, system or community focus
  • do not engage with how technology is used, developed or applied in practice
  • function only as isolated case studies without broader relevance

When developing your application, we encourage you to:

  • start with a clearly defined real-world problem or opportunity
  • explain how technology is or could be shaping that issue and how the project will engage with it
  • show potential to improve services, reduce inequality, or strengthen systems and contribute to change in the UK

We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds including those with technical expertise and those working closely with technology in real-world settings.

We are particularly interested in applicants who engage directly with how technology is used, shaped or applied. We are not expecting applicants to build new technologies, but we are looking for those who can meaningfully engage with how technology operates in practice.

We encourage applications from: 

  • people working in sectors where technology is actively shaping systems and decision-making, including manufacturing, energy, transport, education, healthcare, justice, and local government
  • individuals applying technical or data expertise to societal challenges
  • individuals with lived experience of the issues they wish to address, including those working at grassroots level.

These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.

2026

Milosz Bruski

AI Wellbeing Infrastructure for UK Prisons: International Evidence & National Implementation

Stephen Hilton

Festivals for All: The Future of Audio Description

Jacob Ohrvik-Stott

Strengthening UK policy and laws for preventing harmful AI companionships

Felix Peckham

How the police can harness AI to deliver justice for victims of sexual offence

Ganna Pogrebna

Teaming with Machines: What UK Leaders Can Learn from Global Human–AI Collaboration Models

Colleen Sheridan

Designing Digital Spaces That Support Mental Health and Social Harmony

Jonathan Taylor

Who’s Watching the Machines? Keeping Patients Safe in UK Hospitals

Helen Vaterlaws

Guide-Dog and Tech Together: A UK Framework for Sight Loss Mobility

Josiah Wilson

Learning from Japan and Singapore: Responsible AI Frameworks for use in NHS Elderly Care

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

2025

Lyndsey Dearlove

Enhancing Digital Safety: Improving Access to Tech-Savvy Support for Survivors

Cara Hunter

Impact of AI Harm: UK Democracy & Female Political Participation

Bethany Linder

Technology and Dementia: The Future of Dementia Care

Peter Metherall

From Printer to Patient: Transforming Surgery with Realistic 3D Models

Jake O'Gorman

Future-Proofing UK Charities: Lessons From US AI Innovations

Melvin Riley

Catalysing Youth voices in Shaping the Future of Emerging Technology

Ruth Shaw

How Artificial Intelligence can ethically empower charities and young changemakers

Craig Steele

Exploring how Generative AI can be taught in non-formal learning

Vaishali Kale

AI and Nursing - The Potential of Robotic Aids in UK Healthcare

Phoebe Whitlock

How can Artificial Intelligence democratise access to justice

____________________________________________________________________________________________

2024

Sophie Adams-Foster

Humanising AI in Manufacturing: from Factory Floor to the Future
Kate Arrow

From Japan to the UK: Technology-Based Solutions for Healthy Ageing

Maryam Arshad

Revolutionising healthcare with Cutting-Edge Machine Learning Technologies

Elisa Cavatorta

Innovating Inclusion: a VR-Based Approach to Combat Bullying in the UK

Holly Emblem

Making an AI Education Available for All

Joe Kallarackal

Reducing digital healthcare inequality for ethnic minority groups

Rebecca Payne

Technology enhanced healthcare for remote communities

Adam Groves

Shaping a society-wide response to new 'child online harms'

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2023

Daria Cybulska

Central Asian field guide to civic organising online

Sarabajaya Kumar

Inclusive Tech: Co-creating Robotics & AI with Disabled Communities

Emma Pickering

Creating best practice for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse

Katie Schwarzmann

Tech for all? automated decision-making in the immigration system

Ritvij Singh

Artificial Intelligence: applications in homelessness

Amy Watson

Beyond the selfie: Improving tech safety for children

Prefer a Word document?

Download the full programme brief
Newsletter Sign Up