DWeb / APC Strategy Meetings

# DWeb / APC Strategy Meetings ###### tags: `dweb` ## 9 March 2023 ### Participants Mai, Nico, ngọc ### Notes Deepen impact of fellow program within DWebCamp. ngọc: - winter is finishing, although snow falling today - working on CENO (censorhip.no) browser with jenny - fundraising for dweb design convenings, across different ecosystems, hopefully starting at dweb camp - design community convening? interesting! - OTF, Digital Democracy - despite there is more awareness about usability/design, it's not seen as an intergral part of the OS + dWeb ecosystems - if critical circumvention tools are not usable, then it's not helpful - how can we implement our value, the way we see we design usability... Nico: - Viva Comunidades that came out DWeb Camp, a few of the fellows discussing useability and human centered design (Digital Democracy, Maria, Luandro, Ben Tairea), interesting that these discussions keep happening - Eager to see where these conversations go - Today is a slow day, spent the morning with his daughter, living in a more rural area, very calming but still getting settled - APC year of reflection, thinking about how it integrates with their vision and objectives - Do they step aside, come back in a few years? - Requested to do an assessment for the team - Talking to Mai about the approach, vision, and values of dweb - Next week needs to have a report back - Mai - doing well, had an early meeting today - trying to think about how Dweb nodes can have more governance and agency re: movement (and not just in SF) - feeling there are a lot to do, hoping to launch Compost new issue in March but April is okay too! - having intensive dweb planning retreat next week - themes, people, logistics - get clarification around how can we make the best use of our resources Fellowship Program - APC: bringing in community networks perspectives - What we've talked about so far: - Nico: started the conversation around why APC is relevant to dWeb, what'd be our strategy - Mai: APC embodies the dWeb(?) values - Theory of change: What do we want to achieve with dWeb Camp? - Fellows: from APC especially their time and attention is very scarce - What is the responsibility of us bringing them to this Camp, and taking them away from their responsibilities? - How can dweb actually change existing dynamics of power? Where it's not superficial, or charity, based support for projects, but reimpowering people who are and have been more affected by colonization and capitalism? - DWeb has a certain influence in how people invest their time: How people meet each other, their narratives elevated, etc. - Powerful people, if they feel humbled, they want to affect the space and help - Need better process to support those in power not to abuse their power, not to disempower people again, to be technosolutionist Mai: - tangibly on how we build tools and how we design, where that intervention can happen. - when we talk about power dynamic, what are the different actors of dweb ecosystem? - funders - ffdw - filecoin foundation - large digital nonprofits - fight for the future - eff - internet archive - public knowledge - protocol engineer: access to monetary capital and can disburse monetary capital. Also, many engineers with high income and can afford funding dwebcamp, might have a lot to give, limited in their perspective. - blue sky people - dweb fellows, could use grants and resources to do Nico: - different forms of capital - knowledge, monetary, material, community, culture, etc. - Ex. Dinesh could use a better engineer ngoc: - decolonial work in superbloom. use HCD for projects that are working directly with marginalized/at-risk communities, for ex. to fight censorship and surveillance - DWeb Camp: more organic, interesting projects and protocols, but they only talk to each other. Developers talking to other developers - My goal with designing convening effort (and this is a problem in other open source software spaces) - Coders funding other coders, adding new features to software but not listening to people on the ground - There's a lot of gaps in funding in design, and using it as an intervention to help people not in the room - Stakeholders: Tech policy makers, funders, designers, developers, and end-users - Playing facilitation role to ensure that people understand each other - Policy makers as well - Mai: - goal: niche of expertice... how do you weave that on what other people are doing - convening different type of stakeholders - What would be an ideal outcome for us in 5 years? - APC has incredible amount of power in influencing the process - how do we leverage this event/space for achieving the outcomes that we want? - can we figure out based on the people that comes and interactions that happen? - how do you want to do use of that? how can we facilitate that vision that we are trying to facilitate with partners? ngoc: - Accessibility of funding - Mai on right track to do that, to bring people who otherwise can't afford it (SF is expensive, US is also not the most visa-travel friendly) - If funders want projects to be more diverse, then they should just fund them, and cutting out as much overhead and organizing as much as possible - Fund the actual people who are actually doing the work - We talk a lot about principles and values -- but we break that down into action items, into compensation, admin/logistics, to distribute resources, and seize power - Be welcoming to the Fellows in this context - Superbloom taking a more decolonial approach to their - Take a policy design toolkit, and make them more accessible to global majority, ?? can't fund people directly - Three rounds of overhead to get funds to the people who are actually doing the work on the ground - There's a lot of system-level changes that need to happen - >> What can we do to change these systemic issues? To address these logisitical issues, to give people access to knowledge, funding, networks, etc which they have been historically marginalized from? Nico: - Mix suggested that we spend more time with Fellows before the event, so people understand what their needs are - Introduce each other before the event - So people are more prepared to figure out how they can help them - Then use the event to build things, and strategize - Unmonastery: http://unmonastery.org/ - Group of nomadic scientists, who meet in different parts of Europe and invest their capacity and skills in growing and developing together - Done this 4-5 times, disbanded now - How many people with different backgrounds put their heads together and work to be *at the service* of others - When Luandro said that DWeb Camp could happen in Brazil, Moinho, his community -- if those people could do a massive hackathon there - Instead of the coders, the people there drive the event and priorities Ngoc - Design track not yet planned concretely, but want to design it as a way to bridge betwen different stakehodlers - Relevant to Dweb Labs as well, making things more interoperable, not just technically but to carry out research about needs - What are the real world needs that people have - What is the framework to address these needs through collaboration and coworking? - At the end of the Camp, they speak more of a common language - Goal for design track: Go to learn at Camp, and go back to work with this more shared understanding - A kind of shred Code of Conduct: session design, with subtitles, etc. co-produce the content in a more equitable way - Ex. CoC in Spanish and other languages - Fellowship - How to bring the right people? - Benefit from not just the organizers designing the process, but the Fellows designing the process themselves - How they can interact with pthers coming to camp as well - Mai: - a group of people would select the fellows - how can we co-design the process / the metrics? - previous fellows could design next dwebcamp - what if the fellows came to camp with questions, spice critical questions, something other participatns on the camp come to think about when they come to camp - how do you crack open people's ideas on how technology is built, how do we control it, how is it maintained - how can this cohort of fellows work together? Mai: Is there anything that we can help with that process for APC's reassessment of their involvement in DWeb? Nico: - People who design software, exercise their privilege by doing so - All of these exercises in redistributing privilege, tech as a tool for civilization -- if only a few poeple can design it (white cis men), then how can we expect it to be different? - People who are gathering around DWeb, we talk about other issues (power, relationships) - Distill why and how to weave in the other conversations we're having related to technology Mai: - Even if APC is not able to bring folks, would definitely encourage them to apply. As an opportunity for intervening, in a growing crisis of power, crisis of the powerful becoming more powerful, identifying how they can ... I want to personally want to think about how to design the fellowship program aroud that. If they are not familiar with the space, might be challenging... might have an orientation... Nico: previous fellows might help ## 7 March 2023 ### Participants Mai, Nico ### Notes * Nico personally and APC as an organization is reevaluating the priorities on for paritcularly the Community Networks program. * Does DWeb and DWebCamp fit in LOCNET program's vision/Theory of change? * We can go concrete and say: if APC doesn't have travel budget, how can we still work together on the fellowship program. * We haven't had much luck on the sponsorship program. We got FFDW to put 25k last year, we expect that from Ford and them this year. * It is important for CN activists to be Connect … * We also have DWebCamp Brazil, how do we incorporate that? * Ben doing with DWebLabs, build on the trust and relationships built thorugh the dweb events to support projects on the ground… design technologies to meet concrete needs… * APC capacity * Cynthia: In Montreal * Nico: Will likely be in Mexico before, may be able to attend * Potential conflict with LOCNET internal meeting? * >> Important for someone from the LOCNET team to attend * Mai will save a spot to be a DWeb fellow for cyn or Nico * Main topics * Clear agenda of why APC would be at DWeb Camp * LOCNET's theory of change / DWeb Camp * How does attending DWeb Camp fit into that theory of change? * Groups: Community networks, APC staff (Kathleen Diga, Nico's manager), APC members * LOCNET's objectives * Autonomous networks * Hardware and software that enables these * The word decentralized in this context could refer to: - autonomous (ie being useful by itself) - no central coordination (usually referred to a certain extent... like relying on power grid is left to another 'layer' when talking about decentralized web hosting) - local coordination (like a physical mesh network, as opposed to global coordination like blockchain) Autonomous / Decentralized infrastructures: - LoRa Meshes, like Meshtastic - Radio networks, similar to Hermes - Amateur radio activists - Autonomous servers that explicitly promote Dweb: - peachcloud.org - P2P Access Point by Luandro and Bruno - Autonomous servers themselves, and the frameworks that make them exist (a wide diverse set of them) - Yunohost - FreedomBox - Libre.sh - DockSTARTer - UBOS.net - CloudFleet * Action items * Promote DWeb Fellowship within APC membership Decent.social happened, ian davis, mix, christine Lemmer-webber, and a lot has been discussed about activitypub/mastodon Mastodon requires coordination in between servers, it is more decentralized than twitter. A major threat important to keep an eye on is governance, contral and maintenance. The whole track we had around governance is important to come back, a lot of focus, "potential" about DAOs, more blockchain based coordination, ... so much to understand about networks like Cooperatives, May First, APC and others... having the presence of... maintenance of them... Lost opportunity: coops present at DWebCamp from the fellows, Kemly that is an expert on this, to really start centering that discussion, being more important (in my opinion), the way that we sustain and fund network technologies ... important for sustainability. Brandon King applied as a fellow, he has been thinking a lot about governance since Cooperation Jackson... would love that ocnversation. The Dweb space a lot of exciting ideas about what is technology possible... but the technology already exist, ... it is about organization, how we pay/sustain ourselves... I think is a really important threat, that needs to grow that started to emerge at DWebCamp last year. * Solidarity / co-op experience * Ex. Ben has coordination challenges, Kevin Orowcki re: coordination challenges * Human coordination to achieve ends * Fundamental flows that currently exist re: coordination -- inefficient wrt representation of interests and use of resources * Nico struggling with seeing humanity's processes as coordination efforts * Seems too simplistic * But university as an example -- social infrastructure that's maintained, successful in enabling mass coordination * Example of level of scale of mass coordination that DAOs/blockchain people talk about * If we are going to be using these powerful tools, should be in very specific usecases were it makes sense. Blockchain is being slapped on to a lot of things to make it trustworthy or trustless ... we haven't yet worked on what technologies are needed where and why. * community on mesh networks could exist everywhere, some places needed more than others. shape of the network depend on where the people are. people rather pay 70/month because it is easy. What are the ways we think about tech development, and a framework for thinking about needs... needs and design. Ngoc from Superbloom. human center design, how do we weave together... who needs the tech and why, how do we govern it and maintain it. There is people thinking about this, but maybe we need to think about this together. * >>> Viva Communidades * A fundamental problem is that power is concentrated. More inequality in the world. people with power support fascism because it helps protect power and wealth. Largely white cis men have this power, dweb have many white cis men. How are the ways we can ask for the resources they have in a way that is constructive to create ways of liberation. This seen in the same level of seriousness as tech that is seed funded. ie BlueSky funded by twitter and other VCs.... this is continuing the same cycle, people creating tech for people like them. Not solving the problems of people of the world suffering the most. We can't expect revolution to happen if we are don't have money, connections and time to build the tools. My internal goal that continue to understand how to manifest: how do we take these resources, receive enough of that (FFDW, Unfinished, Ford) and take it to ... not just aliviate suffering but improving people's agency... don't have answers. * >>> This is something that's common within APC * Strategy??? Theory of change? * Who are we talking to? * Funders: Ford, Unfinished/Project Liberty, Filecoin Foundation + FF Decentralized Web * Fellows: how can we elevate/supprot them more: * dweb meetup, we had white cis men that had converstaions with fellows that completely changed the way they saw the world * dweb is a place that bring their whole self, you bring your vulnerability, Laurence Lessig, Tim Burners-Lee, they are not paraded as more important, there is more of a leveling at the dwebcamp, and camping, doing drugs... people are a lot more receptive to each other's perspectives. Creating a space where both people who are struggling having power and resources, can meet with power to talk about their struggles, and for people with power to contribute ... a lot of mixing people, i think is really important... it requires work on both sides: requires people with power to be humble and hear, and those with struggle having converesations with people with power requires patience: my life and my community matters. * DWeb Camp -- place for people to meet but more than that * Those with power give their power/resources to others who don't have it * Process for privileged to be sensitized and understand how they can help * Process for self-awareness, understaning of what the challenges are and being able to put themselves in the position of wanting to deal with them and work towards finding solutions * DWeb Camp doesn't need to tackle the whole stack -- it can just be focused on *this* part of the stack, where people meet, create different approaches, enable people with different realities/privileges/access build trust * Ex. Enspiral/Protozoa: Collective organization We want people with power to share their resources and their priviledge, to use their priviledge for good. to trust the people that have the problem to find a solution. not to say they can't help, to raise money or expertise, shift the problem solving to the people. Ex. someone meets a dweb fellow and says: you have an issue with a water crisis... I will create an app for you that will solve the problem... that kind of dynamic is not great either. Comes back to self awareness and humility, we want to cultivate... with dwebcamp or not... how do one recognize your own power and humble of limited perspective... certain ways to help somebody but not drive the solution. * Mechanisms / strategies / tools to facilitate this process * DWeb Camp should put in place ideally mechanisms to support the development of humility/self-awareness in the powerful and those who need power * People have *intrinsic* power, people are often stripped of it * Then there's access to capital (eight forms - financial, relational, etc.): http://www.appleseedpermaculture.com/8-forms-of-capital/ and this: https://gov.gitcoin.co/t/the-donut-economy-x-8-forms-of-capital/10079 * COncrete actions that DWeb Camp could put in place for the powerful to feel humble, for fellows to be empowered and taken care of, and center of the process * Ex. Something that made Nico feel empowered -- Ben Tairea, working as a consultant for Digital Democracy working with Luandro, facilitating a webinar with community network activists. Instead of inviting Nico to speak on something, he told him who would be there, then asked Nico for questions that HE would ask them. * As a Fellow, if they have a chance to ask difficult questions -- what is the most important ones they would ask? * DWeb Camp has the leverage for that. Imaginary example: TBL answering questions re: rural development * Then also for the powerful to do the same thing -- ask questions of Fellows. To commit TIME to sit down and think about this, and dig into it. * Session / discussion about elitism / opulism? people are usually looking up: to what they don't have instead of what they do have. the goal should be to develop mechisms / strategies through network technologies, dwebcamp or whatever... if I start to think that this is not the place for this to happen, I would leave... I want to think with you and others is how we develop these strategies more... incredible people with such important experience and perspective. how we ensure that what they have to say is communicated very strongly, in this space and more. DWeb has some amount of spotlight, people writing about dweb... there is something here... how do we keep this kind of network that is really built on love, Yisi Liu: Dweb is about making love. How do we continue to build safe, fun and empowering networks, both human networks and technologies that create this networks. * EXAMPLE: Scuttlebutt community -- how they govern the resources they have * Resources funneled through long-standing relationships * How they govern those resources * They're mostly white cis men, but still concerned with distributing power and resources ## 28 Feb 2023 ### Participants Mai, Nico **What is the value of DWeb for community networks? For whom? What is the goal?** “Community tools” - Viva Comunidades - Working group: Ben, Hiure, Nicolas F, Maria, - Mapping of relationship: Anytype.io – note taking app but p2p/offline first, using libp2p, not collaborative yet, supports multiple devices - Way to keep track of nonlinear things - Good for discovery and connection between things #### APC/Nico to Participate in DWeb Camp this year? - Not clear he would attend as APC, or personal - Will have more clarity as participant for APC - Whether APC will support in DWeb Camp - Everyone is interested in what DWeb Labs is doing - Curious to find places where tools can be built for community needs #### What comes out of DWeb Camp? - What is the core of this experience - There is a theory of change behind this - Gut feeling that this needs to happen >> Define what this looks like, why do this? - Find allies in this #### Biggest concern: Attention span of our partners - Fellows (APC, non-APC) have done a great job in embodying values, and bringing them in the flesh to camp - Exhaustion, LACNET partners’ focus is very dispersed - APC pulls their attention for certain things - Ex. Hiure and Tania in India – APC put an idea on the table and they take it as their own - Distillation: Going through different threads, what’s behind these threads? The connecting element, what makes these things have coherence? - >> Have a better energy management process - Pathfinder Grants: Support those trying to explore the borders, trying new things - Doesn’t require or ask for focus, since it allows CNs to find diverse ways to expand their work - Should APC be more involved in DWeb? - Wide range of possibility - Open a program re: digital justice and dweb - Bring post-capitalist, feminist, decolonial perspective to this space - Having covnersations with Ben about why this space is very important - DWeb is trying to tackle both: small/local, big/global levels APC is trying to make up its mind about who they are * Finishing up their process as a networked organization * Org with clear values that leads those values in coordination with other organizations * Other orgs that might have other approaches, but values-aligned * What is APC’s role as a networked organization, what role they have to play? * What the staff has to have? How much they have to be aware, trained, and involved? * Ex. Computing and new human rights violations * Staff, membership, networks Green Pill podcast - Kevin Orowicki