New report: “#MoreThanCode: Practitioners reimagine the landscape of technology for justice and equity”

Published by the Technology for Social Justice Project, including CMS/W co-authors Associate Professor Sasha Costanza-Chock and recent master’s student Maya Wagoner, S.M., ’17, along with Berhan Taye, Caroline Rivas, Chris Schweidler, and Georgia Bullen.

The Technology for Social Justice Project (T4SJ) is excited to release a new report, #MoreThanCode: Practitioners reimagine the landscape of technology for justice and equity. Download the Full Report.

#MoreThanCode is a participatory action research report based on interviews, focus groups, and data analysis with 188 tech practitioners from across the U.S.A. The report explores the current ecosystem and demographics; practitioner experiences; visions and values; documents stories of success and failure; and provides key recommendations for the future of the field. We hope our findings and recommendations will be useful to all those who want to use technology to make a more just and equitable world.

Key recommendations include:

1. Nothing About Us Without Us: Adopt Co-Design Methods and Concrete Community Accountability Mechanisms;
2. From Silver Bullets to Useful Tools: Change the Narrative, Lead with Values, and Recognize Multiple Frames and Terms Across the Ecosystem;
3. #RealDiversityNumbers: Adopt proven strategies for diversity and inclusion;
4. Developers, Developers, Developers? Recognize Different Roles and Expertise in Tech Work, and Support Alternative Pathways to Participation;
5. Coops, Collectives, and Networks, Oh My! Support Alternative Models Beyond Startups, Government Offices, and Incorporated Nonprofits.

The project is co-led by Research Action Design and the Open Technology Institute at New America, together with research partners Upturn, Media Mobilizing Project, Coworker.org, Hack the Hood, May First/People Link, Palante Technology Cooperative, Vulpine Blue, and The Engine Room.

Download the Full Report.