Public-Interest Technology Resources

As technology—especially computer, information, and Internet technology—permeates all aspects of our society, people who understand that technology need to be part of public-policy discussions. We need technologists who work in the public interest. We need public-interest technologists.

Defining this term is difficult. One Ford Foundation blog post described public-interest technologists as “technology practitioners who focus on social justice, the common good, and/or the public interest.” A group of academics in this field wrote that “public-interest technology refers to the study and application of technology expertise to advance the public interest/generate public benefits/promote the public good.”

I think of public-interest technologists as people who combine their technological expertise with a public-interest focus, either by working on tech policy, working on a tech project with a public benefit, or working as a more traditional technologist for an organization with a public-interest focus. Public-interest technology isn’t one thing; it’s many things. And not everyone likes the term. Maybe it’s not the most accurate term for what different people do, but it’s the best umbrella term that covers everyone.

Public-interest technologists are a diverse and interdisciplinary group of people. Their backgrounds are in technology, policy, or law. (This is important, you do not need a computer-science degree to be a public-interest technologist.) They work inside governments, at nongovernmental agencies, for independent research institutions, within for-profit corporations, and for the press. Some of them do this full time as a career. Others take short leaves of absence from their careers to pursue public-interest technology. Still others do this in their spare time, as an avocation.

This is a resources page for public-interest technologists with a public policy focus. As such, it excludes the many tech organizations that are building public-interest tools. (Yes, they’re important, but they’re not my focus here.) The lists on this page are not exhaustive, and I am not endorsing or recommending any particular program. This is meant to be a curated sample of the richness of this space, one which I intend to further develop over time. Please e-mail me with corrections, additions, and suggestions — especially if you are from one of the organizations I list and I mischaracterize you in some important way.

Working under contracts for the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and others, Freedman Consulting produced a series of documents broadly discussing the area of public-interest technology. These are good starting points for anyone interested in the subject:

My writing is about the need for both general and cybersecurity public-interest technologists.

I am currently writing several other pieces on this topic. They’ll appear here when they’re published.

These organizations work at the intersection of technology and public policy.

I have omitted organizations that develop technology used in the public interest, like Tor, and that develop technology for government use, like the US Digital Service. They are primarily developers, and only secondarily advise on policy matters. This doesn’t mean that they’re not public-interest technologists, only that this document isn’t listing them.

The Ford Foundation is working with New America to put together a consortium of universities who are putting together offerings in public-interest technology. It’s kind of a hodge-podge right now, but these pages will get coherent as the twenty-one universities figure out their strategies.

This consortium got a lot of press coverage when it was announced

There are a lot of academic programs that blend policy and technology in some way. In general, this list is more focused on programs where technologists work on policy issues. I admit that my line is fuzzy and ill defined, and that I am making mistakes in both inclusion and exclusion. This is hard.

Several major foundations are funding programs in public-interest technology. I include a list of them here, and web pages for their PIT programs where available.

There are many more organizations that are working in and around this space, but for a variety of reasons don’t make the cut for this particular resources page.

I want to close with a quote from Michael Brennan, also of the Ford Foundation: “The field of public interest tech brings people with specific technical expertise into the fight for social change: whether that means ensuring that biased algorithms don’t further prejudice the criminal justice system, understanding how marginalized communities are negatively impacted by “smart” technology, or examining the future of work as artificial intelligence and the gig economy upend the traditional rules of the economy. Since technology affects nearly every aspect of our lives and the world around us, the opportunities for technologists to put their skills to work for the public interest are endless.”

About that hyphen: Pretty much no one else hyphenates “public-interest technologist,” but since “public interest” doesn’t stand alone as a noun it should be there.

This page is maintained by Bruce Schneier. The intention is to semi-regularly update this page. Suggestions are welcome. Please e-mail any additions, corrections, or comments.

Source: Public-interest-tech.com

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Public interest • Resource • Computer • Information • Computer network • Society • Person • Public policy • Technology • Public interest • Public interest • Ford Foundation • Blog • Public interest • Technology • Technology • Social justice • Common good • Public interest • Social group • Academy (educational institution) • Discipline (academia) • Public interest • Technology • Research • Technology • Expert • Public interest • Economics • Public good • Public interest • Technology • Person • Technology • Expert • Public interest • Technology • Policy • Technology • Project • Public good • Tradition • Technology • Organization • Public interest • Public interest • Technology • Umbrella term • Public interest • Technology • Multiculturalism • Interdisciplinarity • Social group • Technology policy • Law • Computer science • Academic degree • Public interest • Technology • Government • Non-governmental organization • Business • Corporation • Full-time • Leave of absence • Career • Technology • Time • Avocation • Resource • Public interest • Technology • Public policy • Technology • Organization • Tool • Email • Ford Foundation • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation • Writing • Computer security • Technology • Organization • Technology • Public policy • Technology • Public interest • Economic development • Technology • Government • United States Digital Service • Public policy • Ford Foundation • Academy (educational institution) • Technology • Technology • Subset • Foundations of mathematics • Technology • Michael Brennan (actor) • Ford Foundation • Public interest • Technology • Technology • Expert • Social change • Media bias • Algorithm • Criminal justice • Social exclusion • Community • Technology • Future • Employment • Artificial intelligence • Temporary work • Tradition • Norm (social) • Technology • Technology • Skill • Hyphen • Technology • Noun • Bruce Schneier • Email •