Public Interest Technology
By prioritizing the public interest in technological development and implementation, PIT practitioners seek to ensure that advancements in fields such as AI, data analytics, and digital platforms serve humanity as a whole rather than narrow commercial or political interests.
At All Tech Is Human, we have been heavily involved in efforts to build and develop Public Interest Technology (PIT) career pathways. We have partnered with Fordham University to identify competencies most relevant for Public Interest Technology roles, and hosted and organized multiple Public Interest Technology career fairs at universities like Stanford, Pepperdine, and the University of Washington.
We have also hosted Responsible Tech mixers and speaker series focused on Public Interest Technology, including a recent series that delved into technology as critical infrastructure.
Interested in collaborating with us on a Public Interest Tech workshop, report or other initiative?
The Latest
Building a Career in Public Interest Technology Mini Report
REPORT
We need more public interest technologists! Check out our new resource to help you and others build a career in Public Interest Technology (PIT). This helpful guide gives a:
Broad overview of PIT
Sample roles
Key characteristics
Links to additional resources
22 PIT orgs to be involved with
24 PIT leaders to follow on LinkedIn
14 PIT books to read
Strategies and recommendations
Ways to stay involved in the rapidly evolving field
In a tech landscape dominated by the narrative that innovation is inevitable and humans must simply adapt, David Ryan Polgar’s All Tech Is Human stands as a powerful counterargument. Founded in New York in 2018, the organization challenges what Polgar calls the “runaway train” mentality, the belief that technology develops according to its own unstoppable logic, leaving society to merely react to whatever Silicon Valley creates. Read More
Challenging Silicon Valley’s Tech Determinism: How ‘All Tech Is Human’ Rewrites the Rules
The integrity of elections now hinges not just on ballots and polling stations, but on the systems that shape information flows, trust, and public discourse. As technology continues to play an outsized role—from AI-generated content to platform amplification and cross-border influence operations—there’s an urgent need to reimagine how we prepare for and support elections globally. Read More
Introducing Our Global Election Guide Series: Why These Votes Matter
Over the past 6 months, specific to the U.S. election, I have tracked misinformation claims in various, used tools to investigate whether content was AI-generated and improperly labeled, and watched as tech leaders amplified divisive narratives in ways that not only defied expectations but were operationally almost impossible to combat in real time. Yet focusing solely on technology as the cause overlooks deeper issues, including political extremism, polarization, and the erosion of public trust—factors that existed before the rise of social media and artificial intelligence. Read More
Why We Should Stop Blaming Technology for the Erosion of Democracy
Gatherings, Livestreams & More
GATHERING
Technology Is Infrastructure Panel Discussion
What are the ways we can come to view technology as infrastructure? All Tech Is Human Program Associate Elisa Fox hosts a panel featuring Lyel Resner (Visiting Faculty + Head of the Public Interest Technology Studio at Cornell Tech, Co-leader of the Startups & Society Initiative), Saima Akhtar (Senior Associate Director of the Vagelos Computational Science Center (CSC) at Barnard College), Matt Mitchell (Senior Cybersecurity Program Manager at Ford Foundation, Founder of cryptoHarlem), and Claire Yang (Chief of Staff, Silicon Harlem) at All Tech Is Human's Responsible Tech Mixer Speaker Series on August 24, 2023. Watch Now
If you have an idea for a topic or an event, or would like to recommend a guest speaker, please email us at hello@alltechishuman.org.
From Public Sector to Purpose-Driven Tech: Navigating Your Next Move
The job market is seeing an uptick of former civil servants with the skills and motivations to make an impact in tech. Where can they seek mission-driven opportunities to apply their skills? Join us for “From Public Sector to Purpose-Driven Tech: Navigating Your Next Move”, a webinar designed for professionals transitioning from government or adjacent roles into responsible tech. Featured guests included Deepti Doshi (Co-Director at New_ Public), Camille Stewart Gloster (Director, AI & Resilience Services at Crowdstrike), and Deb Donig (Siegel Research Fellow for All Tech Is Human). Watch Now
Strategies to Protect Academic & Civil Society Research
How can we take stock of the current disinformation defense landscape, particularly in the U.S, and how it is affecting journalists, researchers, the trust and safety community, and democratic systems at large? Nina Jankowicz (Co-Founder and CEO, The American Sunlight Project), Nora Benavidez (Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press), Alex Abdo (Litigation Director, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University), and moderator Suzi Ragheb (U.S. Policy Manager, Center for Countering Digital Hate) discuss. Watch Now
The stakes for global democracy are high in 2024, as major elections are scheduled in India, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, the U.S., and more. Recent advancements in AI technology have the potential to transform the electoral landscape, with experts warning that generative AI and deepfakes may be powerful tools to spread misinformation on social media. How are policymakers and the private sector responding to put safeguards in place ahead of elections? How can civil society groups help monitor threats and counter misinformation? Are there emerging AI tools that can help strengthen democratic debate and boost voter confidence? Watch Now
How Will AI Transform Elections?
What is Public Interest Technology?
Public Interest Technology (PIT) often refers to the development, deployment, and governance of technology in ways that prioritize the public good, social justice, and ethical considerations.
PIT encompasses a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together technologists, policymakers, activists, and citizens to ensure that technology serves the needs of all people, particularly marginalized or underserved populations. It involves the use of technology to solve societal problems, enhance civic engagement, and improve the delivery of public services.
Key aspects of public interest technology include:
Cross-Sector Collaboration: Engaging experts from various fields—such as law, engineering, social sciences, and government—to tackle complex societal challenges through technology.
Equity and Justice: Addressing inequalities and ensuring that technology benefits everyone, especially those who have been historically marginalized.
Accountability and Transparency: Implementing practices that make the use of technology in public life transparent and accountable to the public.
Inclusive Participation: Involving diverse communities in the development and decision-making processes related to technology.
Learn More About Public Interest Technology
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The 2023 Responsible Tech Guide: Our annual comprehensive guide to the people, organizations, and ideas of the Responsible Tech ecosystem and actionable ways to get involved.
Co-Creating a Better Tech Future: We explore community visions for what an ideal tech future looks like and what we would need to do in order to make that a reality. Based on dozens of new perspectives, along with the insight our non-profit has gathered from previous reports, our large global Slack community, and numerous summits and mixers we have held.
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New America PIT-UN resources (New America): PIT-UN has provided programming and funding for member universities to grow public interest technology on their campuses and in their communities since 2019. They provide a robust set of resources available to the public.
The Public Interest Technologist (MIT): The Public Interest Technologist is an online publication aimed at helping the MIT community think together about the social responsibilities of students, faculty, staff and alumni who design and implement technologies of various kinds.
Spotlight on PIT (ATIH): A compilation of information and resources on PIT by All Tech Is Human
Datasets for Good (New America): open datasets that can be used in your development and public interest technology research
Policy Innovation Lab Playbook (Carnegie Mellon University): The PIL Playbook was designed and improved with student input, and includes a series of custom “plays” designed to help new students ramp up quickly to a Public Interest Technology mindset.
What is PIT? Workbook (New America PIT-UN): With support from a 2022 PIT-UN Network Challenge Grant, Denise Ferebee (Rust College) and Zina Parker (LeMoyne-Owen College) led a group of faculty from five universities in creating a workbook for educators and students interested in public interest technology.
The PIT Landscape (Boston University): sheds light on the priorities of PIT-UN members, and opportunities for future growth. The report draws on both an in-depth member survey and a broad scan of related activities, academic programs and research initiatives underway at 43 academic institutions that made up the membership of PIT-UN as of the summer of 2021.
Case Studies in PIT (Harvard): three different case studies of public interest tech research projects (PhD dissertation)
Breaking the Mold: Investing in Racial Diversity in Tech Report (Civil Rights Privacy & Technology Table): A report for investors from Civil Rights Privacy and Technology Table
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Code for America: Code for America is a 501 civic tech non-profit organization that was founded by Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, "to promote ‘civic hacking’, and to bring 21st century technology to government." Federal, state, and local governments often lack the budget, expertise, and resources to efficiently deploy modern software.
Coding it Forward: Coding it Forward is a nonprofit for early-career technologists creating new pathways into public interest technology through a summer fellowship program. Since 2017, CiF has placed 691 Fellows at 80 local, state, and federal government offices nationwide.
New America’s Public Interest Technology University Network: The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) fosters collaboration between universities and colleges to build the field of public interest technology and nurture a new generation of civic-minded technologists.
Presidential Innovation Fellows: The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver significant results in months, not years.
TechCongress: TechCongress places computer scientists, engineers, and other technologists to serve as technology policy advisors to Members of Congress through our Senior Congressional Innovation Fellowship (mid-career pipeline), the Congressional Innovation Fellowship (early-career pipeline), and the Congressional Digital Service Fellowship.
United States Digital Corps: USDC, a part of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services, aims to create a government technology workforce that reflects the diversity of America. They offer early career technologists the opportunity to work on some of our most pressing challenges.
United States Digital Response: USDR is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works alongside governments at all levels to ensure they have the capacity to meet the public's needs. USDR places experienced, pro-bono technologists to work with government and organizations responding to crises to quickly deliver critical services.
United States Digital Services: The United States Digital Service is a technology unit housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology. It seeks to improve and simplify digital service, and to improve federal websites.
18F: 18F is a digital services agency within the Technology Transformation Services department of the General Services Administration of the United States Government. Their purpose is to deliver digital services and technology products.
See a full list of organizations:
Apply to join All Tech Is Human’s Slack with over 10K members across 100+ countries!
Join the Public Interest Tech Community
The technical and social complexity of technology requires a multi-voice effort to explore what it can do, what it should do, and what it could do in the future. Want to get involved?
We have a large (and growing) community of Public Interest Technology practitioners at All Tech Is Human. Here are some ways you can meet other practitioners, learn more, or work on something:
Join our Responsible Tech Mentorship Program
Join the Responsible Tech Conversation and Build Your Network on ATIH’s Slack Community
Add your name to our Working Groups waitlist
Find Your Next Role In Public Interest Technology
PIT practitioners work across various sectors, including government, non-profit organizations, academia, and socially responsible businesses.
There are lots of different avenues when it comes to a career in Public Interest Technology, and practitioners engage in a variety of tasks in their daily work.
Ultimately, their goal is to harness the power of technology to tackle complex social problems, improve public services, and create a more just and equitable society. Check out our Job Board
According to ATIH’s Job Board, most Public Interest Technology roles require 5-6 years (47%), 3-4 years (47%), and 7-9 years (27%). Here are some things PIT practitioners work on:
A data scientist might analyze large datasets to identify patterns of inequality in public service delivery, helping policymakers make more informed decisions.
A UX designer could work on improving the accessibility and usability of government websites, ensuring that all citizens can easily access vital information and services.
A software developer might collaborate with a non-profit organization to create a mobile app that connects unhoused individuals with nearby shelters and support services.
A policy analyst could research the potential impacts of facial recognition technology on privacy and civil liberties, drafting recommendations for ethical guidelines and regulations.
A civic tech project manager could coordinate with local government officials, community leaders, and developers to implement a participatory budgeting platform, allowing residents to have a say in how public funds are allocated.