Recap: Local Tech Ecologies Conference

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Recap: Local Tech Ecologies Conference Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/28/2023 - 00:00

Reily McGee

On August 8, 2023, approximately fifty people from across the Rocky Mountain Front Range convened at the University Memorial Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder. They came for “Local Tech Ecologies,” a regional conference celebrating technology designed to empower local communities. After MEDLab director Nathan Schneider opened up the conference, Mayor Aaron Brockett of Boulder gave a brief talk about the work happening in local tech and community building across Boulder and the surrounding communities.

Following Mayor Brockett was Dr. Fernanda R. Rosa from Virginia Tech. She gave the first keynote address, which raised critical questions about the “local,” including its colonial implications and its relationship to the “global.” In the process, she shared the voices of various projects around the world attempting to build local tech ecologies. There were some technical issues during Dr. Rosa’s talk, which led to more discussion with the audience while the tech crew worked. Unfortunately, due to these issues, we were unable to capture recordings of the mayor's introduction or Dr. Rosa's outstanding lecture.

Dr. Rosa offered a powerful reminder to think critically about what we mean when we discuss the local, who is left out of those conversations, and how to bring those people to the forefront when discussing technological solutions. For instance, her talk included a video, "Indigenous People Run Their Own Cellphone Network," an important opportunity to hear about a local tech project in the participants' own voices.

With that, we moved into the lightning talks. The goal of this session was to showcase a diverse range of locally focused tech projects underway in Colorado. Each project had seven minutes to present. During the session we had folks share all sorts of projects, startups, and community-building ventures including Nigh, Bloom Network, the Colorado Venture Capital Authority, Rootable, Colorado ReWild, the Media Archeology Lab, Slay The Runway, the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center, and Nosh. LeeLee James of Slay the Runway also had difficulties with multimedia; see her materials at NPR and PBS.

Video: Lightning talks and reflection by Ted Striphas

What came from the lightning talks was more than just sharing what is going on across Colorado. Technology can become a very tiring and dark subject to explore. Many global solutions and tech communities have done a great deal of harm across the world. The lightning talks inspired many in the room, offering a reminder that more community-based technologies really are possible.

There was a break following the lightning talks where much of this excitement was shared throughout the conference. As people settled back down for the lunch keynote, Dr. Ted Striphas of the University of Colorado Boulder gave a reflection on the lightning talks that, among other things, called into question the intrinsic value of the local.

Our lunch keynote speaker was Ethan Zuckerman of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His talk examined the relationship between misinformation and democracy, going back to the founding of the United States, while drawing lessons from that history for today. By the time of his talk, he had already posted to his blog about Dr. Rosa's keynote and the lightning talks.

Video: Ethan Zuckerman's talk

After Dr. Zuckerman’s charismatic analysis, we moved onto the final planned session of the day, the panels. These divided the conference into breakout rooms to discuss three topics: gaming, journalism, and crisis.

Audio: Breakout panels

The gaming panel hosted Anne Marie and Taylor Clark from �� Gaming and Griffin Opp from CSU gaming to discuss the difficulties in cultivating local communities in the vast and global world of online gaming and esports.

The journalism panel heard from three local journalists Stacey Feldman from the Boulder Reporting Lab, Rossana Longo from the Colorado News Collaborative, and Linda Shapley from Colorado Community Media. All three of them discussed the importance of local tech and community in both reporting and news entrepreneurship.

The crisis panel focused on how technologies could better serve local communities in the context of crises such as natural disasters. Dr. Nabil Echchaibi of �� Boulder opened the panel, followed by talks from Dr. Leysia Palen of �� Boulder and independent documentary filmmaker Saleh Khaled Ibrahim.

The conference concluded with a reception where participants discussed their projects with individuals, shared laughs, and enjoyed the warm Colorado sun beaming in through the windows of the conference room.

The Local Tech Ecologies conference did more than just showcase ideas on what it means to build community and local technology networks, it was a living embodiment of its goals. People who may have never engaged with one another otherwise were able to come together in one space to discuss the trials and promise of what a local tech future could bring. Importantly, something that touched me was the openness of the space, the warm inviting wonder many had in sharing their ideas. We seek to build a brighter and more hopeful idea of technology than the dominant narrative of global tech companies today.

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Conference: Local Tech Ecologies

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:19:21 +0000

Conference: Local Tech Ecologies Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/26/2023 - 11:19

August 8, 2023
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. (in-person)
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. (live-streamed)
University Memorial Center room 235
University of Colorado Boulder

When the devastating Marshall Fire spread across Boulder County in on December 30, 2021, many of us turned to our phones and our networks. They helped us make sense of the crisis and keep each other safe. We relied on information from local organizations and governments, as well as global platforms not designed for a moment like that, and not designed for our community.

What if we valued local technology the way we value local food and local businesses?

This event explores opportunities and challenges for building healthy tech ecosystems that are focused on the needs of local communities—with a focus on projects active across Colorado's Front Range. What kinds of social media could bring people together rather than driving them apart? What kinds of gig platforms could put workers and small businesses above global monopolies? How can regional journalists develop tools truly suited to their needs? The event will make space to introduce projects already cultivating local tech ecologies in Colorado and beyond, and we will discuss strategies for more intentionally developing those ecologies in the future.

Schedule

9:00-10:00am
Room 235

Welcome
Aaron Brockett (Mayor of Boulder)
Nathan Schneider, Assistant Professor at �� Boulder and MEDLab Director

Morning Keynote
Fernanda R. Rosa (Virginia Tech)

10:15-11:45am
Room 235

Lightning Talks
Josh Ritzer (Nigh)
Caroline Savery (Bloom Network)
Nikhil Mankekar (Colorado Venture Capital Authority)
Becks Boone and Jamie Anderson (Rootable)
Pat Kelly (Colorado ReWild)
libi striegl (Media Archaeology Lab)
LeeLee James (Slay The Runway)
Erika Ianco and Trish Uvenferth (Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center)
Mike Perhats (Nosh)

12:00-1:30pm
Room 235

Lunch and Lunch Keynote
Ted Striphas (�� Boulder)
Ethan Zuckerman (UMass Amherst)

1:30-2:30pm

Room 235
Panel: Crisis
Nabil Echchaibi (�� Boulder)
Saleh Khaled Ibrahim
Leysia Palen (�� Boulder)

Room 245
Panel: Journalism
Stacy Feldman (Boulder Reporting Lab)
Rossana Longo (Colorado News Collaborative)
Linda Shapley (Colorado Community Media)

Room 247
Panel: Gaming
Ann Marie (RemainNA) (�� Gaming)
Taylor (MustardSauce) Clark (�� Gaming)
Griffin Opp (CSU Gaming)

3:30-4:30pm
Room 235

Unconference

4:30-5:30pm
Room 235

Reception

Lunch will be served, along with snacks and a reception at the end. This is a free event, but please consider making a donation to MEDLab to support our work.

Organized by the Media Economies Design Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder and made possible by a generous gift from Colorado ReWild.

August 8, 2023, University of Colorado Boulder. What if we valued local technology the way we value local food and local businesses?

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