We do not usually notice who owns the tools until the day we try to leave them.

Our new article in The Code Beneath the Floorboards is live.

It explores digital dependence, vendor lock-in, data control, open technology, and why every system we rely on should come with an exit door.

Read the full article: https://open.substack.com/pub/associationredefine/p/who-owns-the-tools-digital-dependence-open-technology?r=6l8ed8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#OpenTechnology #DigitalSovereignty #OpenSource #CivicTech #DigitalRights #PublicInterestTech

Cybersecurity advice and security tools often assume a stable internet connection, personal devices, and money.

That’s not reality for everyone. Agree or Disagree?

Share your thoughts with us by taking our 1-2 minute POLIS here 👇

https://pol.is/5vfdrszvsa

#DigitalSecurity #PublicInterestTech #CyberSecurity

“It feels like security tools aren’t made for us and our contexts.”

We hear this often across different regions, roles, and risk environments.

Tools may be technically strong, but still feel misaligned with how people actually live and work.

That’s why we’re exploring this gap between design and lived reality in our latest Polis.

Add your perspective here 👇 https://pol.is/2bbebkdtyd

#DigitalSecurity #Usability #PublicInterestTech

A question I get from students that I don't have a great answer to anymore:

Is there a place where people are discussing building sustainable/public interest/civic projects? As in talking about the challenges they face/sharing tips/recommendations, freely promoting their work to others to get extra eyes on WIP?

About one ask away from starting a discourse for this, but curious if anyone out there has a better answer.

#civictech #publicinteresttech

Day 1 of MakeShift 2026 yesterday was intense in the best way possible!

Workshops, installations, debates, demos, people sketching ideas together — all around questions of AI governance, accountability, public infrastructure, usability, and how we make tech systems more understandable in public life.

The showcase last night especially captured the event's energy, with unfinished ideas and people imagining alternatives together.

Now onto Day 2.

#MakeShift2026 #PublicInterestTech #DTPR

MakeShift 2026 starts today in NYC.

Over the next two days we’ll be gathering with designers, researchers, technologists, civic practitioners, artists, and organizers to explore accountability, transparency, participation, and trust in public technologies.

Talks, workshops, installations + public showcase from 4:30 PM today.

📍 School of Visual Arts

Check out the program: https://makeshift2026.dtpr.io/program

#MakeShift2026 #DTPR #PublicInterestTech

Empathy is not a soft extra. It is a warning system.

It tells us where a process is failing before the dashboard does, where people are being lost between forms, platforms, policies, and polite automated replies.

https://open.substack.com/pub/associationredefine/p/the-architecture-of-absence-why-modern-60d?r=6l8ed8&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

#CivicIntelligence #Empathy #SystemsThinking #DigitalGovernance #HumanCenteredDesign #AlgorithmicGovernance #PublicInterestTech #Ethics #REDefine

We already live inside software.

The Code Beneath the Floorboards is our new series on the digital systems shaping schools, work, public services, democracy, and daily life.

First post: Open Source Is Not Just for Nerds - because open technology is about autonomy, trust, repair, and power.

https://open.substack.com/pub/associationredefine/p/open-source-is-not-just-for-nerds?r=6l8ed8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#OpenSource
#OpenTechnology
#CivicTech
#DigitalSovereignty
#DigitalRights
#PublicInterestTech
#TechForGood
#DigitalDemocracy

This week’s newsletter starts with our Civic Innovation Fellows showcase.

Ayela Janjua and Jillian Melough represent the kind of future we are building toward: people who show up, learn how systems work, and put that knowledge in service of their communities.

That work feels urgent as AI tools increasingly shape civic life.

Read more: https://beta.nyc/newsletter-2026-week20

#CivicTech #PublicInterestTech

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the most widely recommended security measures.

But what happens when the experience is frustrating or unreliable?

We’re exploring this tradeoff in our latest Polis.

👉 Share your perspective: https://pol.is/8udrjxfbnh

#DigitalSecurity #2FA #PublicInterestTech #CivicTech