This is a book about technology. This is a book about equity. This is a book about the way we meet community needs. More than anything, this is a book that asks you to ask questions and join us in stretching our imaginations so that we can embrace change more rapidly and intentionally toward a world that works for all of us.
The Tech That Comes Next explores the implications of our use, creation, and funding of technology today and how social impact organizations, technologists, funders, policy makers, and – most importantly – communities can work together to change it all. From culture change within tech organizations to software development paradigms and even the shifting policy and legal landscape, this book offers a deep dive into the questions that arise when we bring tech and justice to the same table.
We are experienced practitioners who have collectively worked in technology development and deployment, philanthropy, social impact organizations, policy, and more. Their experiences offer an important perspective that make this book both a practical resource and a guide to building something new. Underneath it all is a question and a challenge: how do we change what we value? Inside that question lies the opportunities for all of us to be part of creating a better world and the technology that is part of it.
Praise for The Tech That Comes Next
| Ruha Benjamin Author of Race After Technology | “Principled and pragmatic, The Tech That Comes Next guides us in the challenging work of creating the social infrastructure required to transform the relationship between technology and society. It is a must read for everyone who knows we can do better than the tech we have now!” |
| “Fundamentally, this book is about asking the right questions, with an eye towards how we can create the communities we want to live and thrive in together. For all the talk of our technological futures or worlds, we have to ground ourselves in the knowledge that we inhabit the material world. This world requires us to provide food, shelter, companionship, and care for each other. Amy and Afua invite us to stay rooted in keeping people at the forefront of our thinking and designing of technology and the policies that guide its deployment in our lives. It’s a sobering and reflective call for those of us working to steward a better future for ourselves and our children.” | Andreen Soley Director, Public Interest Technology, New America |
| Sabrina Hersi Issa human rights technologist | “It’s often said that love is an action. The same is true of hope. Hope is manifested when a community rallies to demand the best for itself and of itself. Hope is building power in a way where everyone has the opportunity to step up as citizens. Hope is in the many paths we make and create for the greater good and show up to answer innovation’s greatest promise: building a better world together. This book is the product of hope. For technologists who believe in building a future where we all can thrive, this book is your lighthouse and your source code.” |
| “Afua Bruce and Amy Sample Ward have joined forces to lay out a unique and timely vision for the future of technology. In this future, technology improves our lives and reinforces community power by functioning as a part of larger, community-centered processes of daily life and social change. In this future, technology does not pretend to be neutral. In this future, technology production, maintenance and evolution are processes that occur with deep community support. This support is bolstered by the community-centered practices of funders, policymakers, and technologists. Rather than oversimplifying with how-tos, Bruce and Sample Ward create a framework for discussions within and between critical groups who work in this space (communities, technologists, social impact organizations, funders, and policymakers) to examine what building this future will require of us today.” | Danielle Robinson Executive Director, Code for Science and Society |
| Rick Cohen Chief Operating Officer, National Council of Nonprofits | “Change isn’t a checklist; it’s a conversation. Amy and Afua invite us to dream of a better, more equitable future – and to take the steps necessary to make it a reality. By opening our minds to inspiration from others who are similarly engaged in community-centered approaches to creation and use of technology, we can move past the broken systems of the past and create a more equitable tomorrow.” |
| “Afua Bruce and Amy Sample Ward have provided us with a roadmap to shift the course of technology applied to social good in their new book, The Tech That Comes Next. So much ill-conceived technology gets done to the social good sector. Even when it works as designed, it often has the effect of reinforcing inequality. If you really want to see people using better technology to bring about a more equal and just world, mine these pages for a handful of actionable ideas!” | Jim Fruchterman Founder & CEO, Tech Matters |
| David Ryan Polgar Founder and Director, All Tech Is Human | “Aligning technology with our community values can feel like a Rubik’s Cube where there are multiple parts of a puzzle that affect each other. The Tech That Comes Next expertly ties together the important roles played by technologists, funders, policymakers, and social impact organizations and offers readers an invaluable holistic framework to tackle seemingly intractable problems related to improving our tech future. As authors Afua Bruce and Amy Sample Ward emphasize since humans create technology it can’t be neutral. By recentering the discussion around our agency and promoting a culture of collaboration, I’m optimistic that the tech that comes next will be far better than where we are.” |
| “Afua Bruce and Amy Sample Ward have created a path for us to leverage the power of technology in the pursuit of a more equitable and just future. Whether you are a funder, social impact organization, techie, or community organizer – there is something for you within the pages of The Tech That Comes Next.” | Storme Gray Executive Director, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy |