Technology Public interest technology is a By Katie McQuater Civic -minded I n 2020, Netflix documentary-drama The Social Dilemma brought a disturbing vision to our screens: shady controllers monitored peoples every online move, influencing the content they come across and, thereby, their mood, and even their likelihood of being indoctrinated. If it sounds like a dystopian prospect of a distant future, its far from it. Facial-recognition technologies; the hyper-targeted digital advertising market; the growth of disinformation and conspiracy theories threatening democracy, leading to violence such as the attack on the US Capitol; online abuse of female journalists and politicians. All are negative outcomes of technology. There is a growing field that recognises technology should be designed, understood and applied in a way that considers all outcomes and potential impact. Enter public interest technologists those who operate in and around tech, who understand that designers and coders dont function in a silo and that tech should be used to benefit society as a whole. Public interest technologists produce knowledge, hardware and software optimised to advance the public good. Therefore, they are less likely to mine and trade in personal data, says Mutale Nkonde, founding chief executive of non-profit communications agency AI for the People. They provide resistance against technologies with sexist and racist inputs, and they look for new ways to design, deploy and govern advanced technological products through justice-affirming frameworks. Public interest technology has emerged from a need to reshape how technology works and to hold accountable those who hold the power. Definitions of the field can vary, however. Sarah Drinkwater, director of responsible technology at Omidyar Network, and former head of Googles physical start-up hub, Campus London, points to a lack of shared language. A core challenge for those of us working to build a more equitable technology ecosystem is the lack of common language to rally around, says Drinkwater. Technologists, academics, activists and us, as the public, all use different words to mean the same things. When I hear the term public interest technology, my first question is: who is that 52 Impact ISSUE 33 2021_pp52-53 Tech.indd 52 26/03/2021 10:15