FAQ

In 2021-2022, CS&S ran a pilot version of the DII program as a grantee of the Digital Infrastructure Fund.

The pilot iteration of the program welcomed expressions of interest from project leads in the open source ecosystem with an interest in sustainability, governance, community health, and meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion. The program hosted 6 open teams working across data science, research software, internet infrastructure, AI, and open source software. The teams were split into focus groups addressing governance, community engagement, and cultural infrastructure. Read more about the past cohort.

In our sector, support and capacity building for this kind of work has yet to be explored. While different social justice discourses and awareness are growing, we are looking to support models of building and transferring power to communities historically under-served by technological innovation. We believe this cohort’s work can result in an initial iteration of new tools and resources.

We learn from our cohorts at the same time that we source resources and mentors for them. In 2023, we are looking to convene a cohort of leaders who have already prioritized (in current or past projects) community-centered commitments in the development of project missions and vision statements, impact, and engagement. This work takes time to develop and refine and there is always more to learn. We are looking to build a cohort of colleagues who may learn from each others’ previous experiences in community building, community facilitation, co-design, co-stewardship, co-ownership, and other models of community-centered work.

The fields of open infrastructure, digital public infrastructure, and public interest technology are still in formation, leading to a proliferation of terms used to describe this range of “open work.” In the open call for this program, we use these terms interchangeably in order to reach the widest audience. The program itself is focused on strategic support and capacity building around community engagement and project governance – aspects of a project’s sociotechnical infrastructure.

Eligible projects may think of themselves as networks, hubs, platforms, services (all of which are sometimes referred to as “infrastructure”) and should find affinity with the portfolio of projects represented in the CS&S network of grantees, sponsored projects, and affiliates. The bulk of these have been open source software, open data, open science, and open knowledge projects working in the public interest. Read more about CS&S.

Participants (or participant teams) will receive a $7,000 stipend to join a 8-month program running January - August 2023. Applicants are not limited by geographic location or primary program language. Participants should be comfortable exchanging in English. Chosen participants or participant teams will be expected to follow a curriculum of synchronous and asynchronous work.

Asynchronous:

• Curated bibliographies, resources, other references

• Worksheets, exercises, templates

• Readings

• Shared, open curriculum

Synchronous:

• Monthly 1:1 calls with the program manager, Dr. Rayya El Zein in Phases 1 and 3

• Monthly cohort calls with all project leads in all three phases

• Three 3-week work sprints with consultants and contractors; one in each phase of programming. Slate of collaborations with consultants is informed by cohort interests and experience will be announced in December.

The 8 months have been informally broken up into three phases of work: “desk work”; “field work”; and “integrated design.” These correspond to different rhythms of synchronous and asynchronous work and foreground building connections between cohort members, research with communities, and iteration around designs.

These award monies are meant to compensate participating members for time perusing resources, engaging mentors and the cohort, conducting their own research with communities, and developing designs. Applicants submitting as a team are free to decide how to divide funds between them.

Do not hesitate to reach out to [email protected] if you have specific questions about fit.

Ideal teams may be considering issues like:

• Distribution of resources across an uneven network

• Legibility and translatability of participant needs, values

• Localization, translation, adaptation

• Infrastructure for growth, leadership, representation

• Infrastructure for ownership and stewardship

• Infrastructure for succession, transfer, eclipse

• Other scaffolding for community stewardship, co-design, co-ownership

Selected teams must:

• Have already integrated community engagement to some extent in their project mission or vision statements. We are looking for leaders or teams with some experience in this work.

• Have a clear sense of the blockers and challenges they face in developing or deepening transfer, collaboration, partnership with relevant communities.

Interested projects need NOT:

• Already have a clear idea of the research recommendations available to address challenges they face

• Have a wealth of material resources available to or experience in addressing these challenges

• Represented projects need not operate in English; Incubator participants need basic English-language fluency. The program runs in English only.