The WeMakeThe.City festival kicked off for Waag at 'day 0' when we left the harbour the set our sails for open water, during the Public Stack Summit. At this full-day conference we assembled together everyone working on the public stack to join us on a boat, combining knowledge and setting the agenda for the coming years. Key questions: 'What is the public stack? How can we make the public stack a more viable alternative for the private one, without having to reinvent the wheel?'
So: what is the public stack?
When interacting with technology you use many different layers of the stack. From the browser application you read this article with, to the hardware (phone, laptop, etc.) you use to do so. And from the physical infrastructure that’s behind the internet to the governance layer that steers the maintenance of connections. In every layer of this stack you have different options. Where the market stack chooses particular closed options to maximize profit, control and dependence, the public stack provides open, fair and inclusive alternatives.
Loads of good alternatives are being developed. But a clear overview of options for a fully interconnected public stack is yet to be brought together. This boat trip was a first attempt to define a common ground, meet other public stack pioneers and set the public stack agenda for the coming years.
Fruitful conversations were held, insightful tables were drawn and core definitions were debated. All input is being combined as we speak. Reports from the findings will be published as soon as possible. Keep an eye on waag.org for more information and follow-up action!
Marleen Stikker presented some first insights during the WeMakeThe.City festival. These slides are a summary of those findings (pdf).
Photo album of the Public Stack Summit
This public summit will be organized by Decode and Waag. DECODE is a European funded research project, to design an internet that respects the data sovereignty of all European citizens.
