New America
Open Technology Institute

Technology Should: A People's Technology Project at the DC Funk Parade

Blog Post
By 

Ryan Gerety

 and 

Laurenellen McCann

May 12, 2014

With recent NSA mass surveillance revelations, the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger deal, and the uncertain future of net neutrality, the Open Technology Institute (OTI) wanted to take a read on digital optimism in the District and share a creative space to comment on these events.

On May 3, as part of the Tech Embassy at DC's first Funk Parade, OTI's field team set up a Name that Tech1 drawing space and "Technology should ..." comment wall outside Affinity Lab on a sidewalk along U Street. Name that Tech: People Defining Technology In the Name that Tech drawing space, people doodled, drew or collaged answers to the following questions:

  1. What should the Internet look like?
  2. What does the Internet look like?
  3. What does privacy look like?
  4. What does surveillance look like?
  5. What does the NSA look like?
  6. What should technology look like?

OTI provided these questions on sheets of paper, as well as markers, old magazines, copies of the Detroit Digital Justice Principles, Name that Tech: Words, Name that Tech: Shapes, scissors, tape and glue sticks. Below are a few of the compelling drawings. All of the responses are available here.

Technology should ...

On the "Technology should..." comment wall, passersby and visitors of the Tech Embassy filled in the blanks with their ideas of what technology should and should not be.

A few of our favorite responses included, technology should "protect privacy not invade it", "help everyone talk until they dont want to fight", and "come from LOTS of companies, people and places." The wall collected the following responses during the Funk Parade (photos):

Technology should ...

  • create small business start-ups
  • be easy to use
  • produce jet packs (finally)
  • shape environmental conservation
  • make life better!!
  • feed your head!
  • move the world toward a money-less society
  • work invisibly
  • amaze people
  • undo injustice + unlock creativity
  • help with chores
  • be freely shared with the developing world
  • cure cancer
  • not be a means to divide us
  • not come between people
  • change our future
  • be fun and collaborative!
  • find me a husband
  • free 4 everyone
  • marvelous
  • include more girls!
  • be inspiring
  • spread equality
  • eXPAND
  • NOT mediate all our interactions with government
  • be open to all views
  • come from LOTS of companies, people and places
  • improve lives
  • avanzar la educación
  • be designed by EVERYONE
  • be anything you want it to be!
  • be open and accessible to everyone
  • do my homework
  • be accessible
  • make the world more accessible
  • be awesome
  • unite US
  • protect privacy not invade it
  • be for everyone
  • be open and free AND protect privacy
  • challenge boundaries
  • heal the world
  • grow humanity
  • NOT create a fast-lane for the internet
  • inspiranda
  • inclusive
  • connect ENFP childlike wonder to INTJ initiative!
  • be green
  • be acknowledged that it will ALWAYS fail
  • support humanity
  • ENRICH our LIVES
  • create an awesome robot to turn water into wine
  • respect privacy
  • not be a replacement for communication, but a facilitator!
  • open our eyes
  • not replace human interaction
  • encourage human interaction
  • help everyone talk until they dont want to fight
  • connect people
  • be empowering
  • expand possibilities
  • information and learning
  • equal for all!
  • be accessible!
  • be easy to use and fix (+1)
  • be free
  • de ser para "todos"
  • solve problems

Name that Tech Materials:

Technology Should Materials:

  • Large surface for the "Technology should ..." wall
  • Roll of butcher paper or big sheets
  • Tape
  • Markers

The Tech Embassy was hosted as part of DC’s first-ever Funk Parade, organized by The Curious Citizens Project, and made possible by its partners, including Affinity Lab, Code for DC, DC Public Library, Hamiltonian Gallery, Code for Progress, Mapbox, the Open Technology Institute, Visual Impact, JAM202, GoGoRadio and the Sunlight Foundation. Students from Logan EC (DCPS) and BASIS DC (PCS) created an online map showing homeless student enrollment.

1 Name that Tech was first develped by OTI, Nina Bianchi of The Work Department and Detroit Project Archive in 2011.