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Technology for Society

Communities are the fabric of society.

When we work together, we learn patience, compromise, shared responsibility, and ultimately trust. We develop empathy. We retain our dignity. We become more resilient. We become actively engaged in creating the society we deserve.

Much of the technology we use, from the Internet, to open source software, to the software that runs the world’s data centers was created open and free and remains so for everyone. Unfortunately, the vast majority of investments in technology today are aimed at providing more lucrative products and more centralized services; leaving communities behind.

The Civil Society Technical Foundation works to empower civil society with open technologies. We are developing Wild Cloud – self-managed infrastructure management software allowing any community or organization to set up and run their own cloud infrastructure–simpler and dramatically less expensive than centralized clouds like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud; keeping your community’s data and governance entirely within your control.

We also curate Wild Directory , a set of community-oriented open source applications that can be easily deployed on any Wild Cloud.

We envision a future where communities of all sizes are empowered by their own technology.

Learn More
What We Believe
·769 words·4 mins
These are the principles that guide our work—grounded in what we’ve learned from watching communities build technology that truly serves them. Technology can be a public good, and communities can control their own digital futures.
Community-Owned Technology
·1123 words·6 mins
What happens when communities build and own their own technology? From rural broadband cooperatives to artist-owned platforms, communities around the world are showing us what’s possible.

Recent

Decidim: Barcelona's Gift to Participatory Democracy
·507 words·3 mins
Participatory Democracy Case-Study Participatory Democracy Open Source Civic Tech Barcelona
Barcelona didn’t just build a platform for participatory democracy—they gave it to the world. Now over 400 organizations in 30+ countries use Decidim to help citizens shape their own futures together.
Social.coop: A Social Network Owned by Its Members
·496 words·3 mins
Creative Communities Case-Study Cooperative Mastodon Fediverse Social Media
What if social media actually belonged to the people who use it? Social.coop has been proving since 2017 that member-owned, democratically governed social networks aren’t just possible—they feel better to use.
The Drivers Cooperative: Drivers Who Own Their App
·518 words·3 mins
Worker-Owned Platforms Case-Study Cooperative Worker-Owned Ride-Hail Platform Cooperative
When gig economy drivers asked “what if we just built our own app?”, they proved that worker-owned platforms aren’t just possible—they can thrive. Thousands of driver-owners now share in the success they create together.