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, policymakers, 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.
Amy Sample Ward and Afua Bruce 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
“Amy and Afua invite us to stay rooted in keeping people at the forefront of our thinking when designing 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
“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, MacArthur Fellow and Founder, Benetech
“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.”
―Sabrina Hersi Issa, human rights technologist
“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 does not pretend to be neutral. 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
“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.”
―Rick Cohen, Chief Operating Officer, National Council of Nonprofits
"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!"
―Ruha Benjamin, author of Race After Technology
About the Author
AMY SAMPLE WARD is driven by a belief that the nonprofit technology community can be a movement-based force for positive change. They are the CEO of NTEN, a nonprofit creating a world where missions and movements are more successful through the skillful and equitable use of technology. Amy’s second book, Social Change Anytime Everywhere, was a Terry McAdam Book Award finalist.
AFUA BRUCE is a leading public interest technologist who has spent her career working at the intersection of technology, policy, and society. Her career has spanned the government, nonprofit, private, and academic sectors, as she has held senior science and technology positions at a data science nonprofit, the White House, the FBI, and IBM. Afua has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, as well as an MBA.
