IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2021 - 10

Guest Editors' Introduction
Guest Editors' Introduction
Co-Designing the Future With Public
Interest Technology
Roba Abbas
University of Wollongong, Wollongong,
NSW 2522, Australia
Salah Hamdoun
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281 USA
Defining public interest technology
 This special issue is dedicated to the theme of
public interest technology (PIT) [1]. PIT acknowledges
that technological potential can be harnessed to satisfy
the needs of civil society. In other words, technology can
be seen as a public good that can benefit all, through
an open democratic system of governance, with open
data initiatives, open technologies, and open systems/
ecosystems designed for the collective good, as defined
by respective communities that will be utilizing them.
Just like in the established field of public interest law
(PIL) [2], [3] and public interest journalism (PIJ) [4],
we can consider potential fields around the idea of PIT
[5], [6], such as public interest co-design (PITco), even
public interest engagement (PITengage) or public interest
consulting (PIC). For decades, public interest engineers
(PIEs) have volunteered their time to collaborate
in meaningful participative engagements. These engineers
have self-organized some impressive collectives
including Engineers Without Borders, ASCE Disaster
Assistance Volunteer Program, Appropriate Infrastructure
Development Group, Architecture for Humanity,
Bridges to Prosperity, Bridging the Gap Africa, Engineers
for a Sustainable World, GISCorps, Habitat for Humanity,
National Engineering Projects in Community Service,
just to name a few. These collectives and initiatives
call attention to the primary role of a PIT practitioner.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2021.3101825
Date of current version: 2 September 2021.
10
0278-0097/21©2021 IEEE
Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh
Pivot for Humanity, New York, NY 10012 USA
Netra Chhetri, Nalini Chhetri, and
Katina Michael
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281 USA
That is, the importance of PIT practitioners serving as
transdisciplinary intermediaries between the community
and the STEM disciplines and technical teams,
emphasizing the importance of justice, equity, and
inclusion in the design and deployment of new technologies
[7] that allow for positive social transformation
and empowerment [8].
For clarity and consistency, the working definition
of PIT used throughout this issue is the design and
development of technologies in the civic interest for
societal benefit [9], using inclusive problem-solving
and focusing on well-being, human-centered design,
and policy [10].
Toward co-design: " With " and not " for "
stakeholders
Modern information and communication technologies,
such as mobile phones and broadband
communications, are permeating almost every
aspect of our lives, yet not everyone benefits from
them. Privatization has led to further misappropriation
of the original intent of the technologies which
has, in turn, brought about mixed outcomes in terms
of their real value to society [11]. Even in countries
undergoing rapid development, infrastructure undergirding
such technology is usually not owned by the
local community but by external and international
actors with significant private interests [12]. In this
tug of war between the private interests of foreign
entities (governments, transnational companies,
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2021

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