Book: Building a Free Internet of the Future
A new book titled Building a Free Internet of the Future tells the story of those working for an inclusive and accessible digital future.The interviews are written by Xavier Coadic, a free/libre open source software activist and part of NGI Zero. The book was published by APC, the Association for Progressive Communications and an NGI Zero consortium member. The book can be downloaded for free and is available under Creative Commons license BY 4.0.
The aim of the book is explained in the introduction: "This series focuses on the experiences and perspectives of individuals and communities supported by the NGI Zero grants for free software, open data, open hardware and open standards projects – who are often absent from dominant technological narratives. Their real-life experiences reveal the concrete challenges of digital exclusion and the innovations they have developed to overcome them. Rather than focus on abstract technological ideals, each interview highlights practical, community-based initiatives, tangible actions and replicable models that others can learn from and adapt.
"Here you will find conversations about access to vital information anywhere; balancing accessibility and privacy for secure digital collaboration; a printer for embossing texts and plans; how we write our political values into our code; digital accessibility as a human right; an alternative to YouTube; the urgency of offering services to civil society; open source software in healthcare; free software for self-organising and local communities; access to information when websites are experiencing technical difficulties or are being blocked; extending the life of consumer electronics and much more. They reflect on the challenges, limitations, power relations and labour relations that permeate the field of free technologies – seeking to avoid a simplistic or solutionist approach, and instead create necessary conversations."
