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Ford Forum

6 April 2018

With Four Freedoms, Four Responsibilities

Equals Change Blog
Darren Walker

23 April 2018

In our Grantee Perception Report, there's room for improvement—here’s how we’re responding

By Darren Walker

Michael Brennan. 2016. Photo credit: Simon Luethi

2 April 2018

Public Interest Tech: A growing field you should know

By Michael Brennan

Wilneida Negron. New York. 2017. Photo credit: Simon Luethi ©Ford Foundation.

21 March 2018

10 tech trends that will impact social justice in 2018

By Wilneida Negrón

Justin Sylvester. New York. 2015. (c) Ford Foundation

20 March 2018

A landmark win for the right to assemble and protest, in South Africa and beyond

By Justin Sylvester

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Library | Reports and studies

Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure

14 July 2016
Roads and Bridges Report Cover Download pdf 872.6 KB Roads and Bridges Report Cover Download epub 330.64 KB

Our modern society runs on software. But the tools we use to build software are buckling under increased demand.

Nearly all software today relies on free, public code, written and maintained by communities of developers and other talent. This code can be used by anyone—from companies to individuals—to write their own software. Shared, public code makes up the digital infrastructure of our society today.

Everybody relies on shared code to write software, including Fortune 500 companies, government, major software companies and startups. In a world driven by technology, we are putting increased demand on those who maintain our digital infrastructure. Yet because these communities are not highly visible, the rest of the world has been slow to notice.

Just like physical infrastructure, digital infrastructure needs regular upkeep and maintenance. But financial support for digital infrastructure is much harder to come by.

In the face of unprecedented demand, the costs of not supporting our digital infrastructure are numerous. No individual company or organization is incentivized to address the public good problem alone. In order to support our digital infrastructure, we must find ways to work together.

Sustaining our digital infrastructure is a new topic for many, and the challenges are not well understood. In this report, Nadia Eghbal unpacks the unique challenges facing digital infrastructure, and how we might work together to address them.

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