What technologies respect human rights and public values? Where is the technology that keeps us within planetary boundaries and that incorporates mechanisms for democratic forces to collectively govern data and software? What does a public service internet look like?
This workshop is co-organised by BBC R&D and Waag Futurelab. BBC R&D has extensive experience with the concept of a public service internet and has put ideas in practice in various initiatives. Waag has developed the model of the Public Stack as a way of encompassing Waag’s research and experiments on these topics over the years. This model aims to envision the complexity that underlies technology as consisting of different layers, combining the tech layers like infrastructure, software and hardware, with for example socio-economic considerations, governance and basic human rights.
During the whole conference people can contribute their initiatives on a big poster in the conference hallway to map the state of play of the public stack. Each initiative is a piece of the puzzle towards a full public stack, towards open, democrati and sustainable digital public spaces. In this workshop, we will look at the contributions, add what participants can contribute from their own knowledge and experience, and analyse together where we stand. How do the various initiatives relate to each other and where are the gaps? The outcome of this session will be shared publicly as an outcome of the conference.