MiXit: Our core conferences
We were no less than 16 Peaksians present at the 2022 edition of MiXiT, last Tuesday and Wednesday. Delighted and inspired by several conferences, we decided to share them with you. Here is the first restitution presented by Sami, "The Public Stack Model" by Sander Van der Waal.
Sander van der Waal's Public Stack Model
On Tuesday May 24 during the MiXiT 2022, I had the opportunity to attend the conference of Sander van der Waal, research director at the WAAG institute, on “the creation of digital community spaces aimed at serving the public interest”.
What is WAAG?
Waag is a "Futurelab", working for the betterment of society through technological innovation. According to the laboratory, the technologies developed today are not neutral. WAAG wishes to strengthen the critical spirit vis-à-vis technology, by developing technological and social skills, while encouraging social innovation.
WAAG is made up of a transdisciplinary team of designers, artists and scientists, using public research methods accessible to all to make technology and society coexist. It is in this way that WAAG wishes to enable its citizens to develop a transparent, honest and inclusive future.
What is the Public Stack Model?
Sander van der Waal explains the “ Public Stack Model and proposes its use for develop a roadmap to create technologies that have the public interest at heart.
What are the fundamental questions to consider? What does the design and development process look like to build these NICTs? And how to include citizens in the crucial choices to ensure that these NICTs are developed correctly and ethically?
These are all questions that Sanders tries to answer by explaining how to build a ICT ecosystem with the public interest at heart to make them alternatives to today's commercial platforms.
To answer this question, you need to understand what the Public Stack is made of.
The " Public Stack Model is based on 4 pillars:
- The customer's perspective. In this context, the end-user is considered to be a citizen and not a mere consumer. The NTIC which are proposed to him must fulfill a precise function and be compatible with his desires and his needs.
- The tech-stack. It will include a set of protocols and standards that go hand in hand with the physical and virtual elements that make up our NICTs, namely:
- Application
- OS
- Firmware and drivers
- Components
- Infrastructure
- Process design. It is a combination of research methods combining:
- Co-creation: process to democratize the skills and knowledge needed to implement solutions with public administrations.
- Citizen science: a method of scientific research carried out by amateur scientists.
- Public research: a method that prioritizes the general interest as a guideline for innovation. Society becomes a research community.
- Public participation: allow everyone via round tables, debates and brainstorming sessions to participate in order to understand the issues and allow the creation of quality NTIC.
- Foundations :
- All stakeholders are involved and their opinions are taken into account
- Human rights are guaranteed and public values are respected
- The company has the decision-making power in terms of digitization
- The economic model takes people and the planet into account
WAAG was able to take these fundamental principles and apply them to the different sectors that govern society, such as energy, education, health, media (information), government.
As Research Director at the WAAG Institute, Sander van der Waal aims to ensure that all research within the laboratory can contribute to positive and lasting change, both at local level in Amsterdam, at national level in the Netherlands and possibly at European level, in accordance with the principles of transparency, fairness and inclusiveness from WAAG.
Conclusion
I found this lecture fascinating but also disturbing. We have no comparable research center in France that would put the citizen at the heart of all decisions to implement and create digital solutions. We are far from the worst performers when it comes to data usage and storage, but we can do better.
Below are some additional URLs to deepen your knowledge ☺:
- List of existing projects using the Public Stack Model: https://publicstack.net/alternatives/
- The WAAG website: https://waag.org/en
