Waag Futurelab investigates the idea that an alternative internet is possible. Just as we expect in our physical spaces, people using technology should be treated as free citizens rather than consumers in a market or subjects in a state.
We strive for a public stack, an approach where all of the layers that contribute to technology – the foundational values, the design process, the technology itself, and the ways in which these layers position people – are based on public values. That is why Waag is actively committed to making gaps in the pile visible and identifying, developing and supporting alternatives. In this way, we contribute to an alternative internet that is developed on the basis of public values and can be trusted.
The concept of the Public Stack grew into a major project within the walls of Waag Futurelab during Covid times, when we advised on working from home with fair and open software. This was followed by, among others, a Roadmap Digital Future for the Digitalisation Committee of the House of Representatives, the foundation of our collective PublicSpaces and the associated annual PublicSpaces Conference, and the expansion of Public Stack into a workshop method that can be applied and requested within all contexts in which collaborative work with technology is carried out.
For information about Public Stack workshops, please contact Marit Hoefsloot: marit [at] waag [dot] org.
