Chris Ward
Engineering Manager, Babbel
Berlin Schöneberg, Germany
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Chris started coding life as a full-stack developer and moved between all sorts of weird and wonderful disciplines and industries before he settled on Android. In more recent years he moved into management, as both an EM and head of engineering for mobile teams. In addition to coding life, he's been an elected official in the UK, had a key role in legalising same-sex marriage in the UK through his LobbyALord app, and addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on atrocities against LGBT+ people abroad. He writes and speaks about his experience of being diagnosed with ADHD late in life and how he deals with the unique challenges neurodivergency brings to an individual working in tech. He lives in Berlin with his cat and his husband and has a mid-life-crisis friendship with crows.
Area of Expertise
Topics
War in Ukraine – How Can Devs Help?
Technology is being used in many ways to help drive aid into Ukraine, to help fight Russian aggression and support refugees who need housing, medical help, employment and more. This panel will look at some of the current solutions and look at where we as a community can fill the gaps.
What are the most urgent needs and what can we do to help?
What apps would be useful to develop?
How can we support Ukrainian devs who have lost jobs and homes?
How can we drive fundraising and support for Ukraine within the apps that we are already developing?
Green Tech Development & Social Responsibility
Developing “green” software is a skill that will rapidly become an imperative in order to help achieve the ambition of climate neutrality. Beyond developing energy-efficient software and optimizing device performance, Android devs can reach over Android over 2.5 billion active users spanning more than 190 countries worldwide. This reach gives our community an unparalleled opportunity to develop apps that help drive climate neutrality and drive social change on a global scale.
- How can we develop more sustainable software?
- What skills do we need to learn to develop “green”software?
- What apps can we develop to drive more social change and initiative to combat climate change?
- How can we promote more investment in climate action projects?
- What tech-solutions can we develop to help meet climate-change goals?
Concurrency for Imposters
Do you find concurrency hard, but don't want to admit it because people might think you're a "rubbish developer"? Guess what, there are more like you than you think. Chris is one of them, and after forcing his ADHD-addled brain to overcome his concurrency gremlins, he wants to change the way it's taught. So come to this safe-space session, and let's explore coroutines with octopuses.
Coding for Good: Achieving social change with an app
As coders, we have an enviable ability to create platforms and apps that bring people together. The world is not short of challenges right now, especially climate change, but we will only have a real impact on the world if we can help people unite and organise to pressure those with power and influence.
Chris and his husband quickly developed an app ten years ago to allow ordinary people to lobby the normally inaccessible and unelected House of Lords to pass the Same Sex Marriage Bill. It unexpectedly took off, with 15,000 emails sent in the space of two weeks, helping the Bill overwhelmingly succeed in the normally-socially-conservative upper House of Parliament in the UK.
He'll talk here about how he did it, and how you - an individual with a computer and knowledge of how to knock an app together - can use this skill to give a voice to the voiceless, and to potentially change or even save the world.
Coding and mental illness. A survival guide.
Being a coder with mental health problems has very unique challenges, especially if you don't know you have them. After 8 years of medication for depression/anxiety, Chris got his diagnosis for ADHD at the age of 37 and the treatment changed his life. In an industry that is rife with imposter syndrome and where mental hath "quirks" are often perceived as professional flaws or gaps in knowledge, Chris will share his experiences and give concrete helpful suggestions to overcome these challenges, as well as explaining to "neurotypical" people how they can be better allies.
droidcon Lisbon 2022 Sessionize Event
droidcon London 2021 Sessionize Event
droidcon Berlin 2021 Sessionize Event
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