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About

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The Public Interest Technology Group (PITG) is a loosely organized group of individuals who self-identify as public-interest technologists, or are otherwise working on and interested in, issues at the intersection of technology, rights, equity and advocacy.

Our participants draw from academic, corporate and civil society organisations working on Internet infrastructure. We were formed during the 2016 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 96 meeting in Berlin. Our group created a home for already existing conversations and collaborations between public interest technologists, funders, Internet governance participants and others involved in Internet infrastructure governance and standardization.

Over the past years, the group grew considerably reflecting the interest in, and need for, public interest advocacy in technical spaces. Our focus expanded beyond the IETF to include a number of other standardization organizations, including the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as well as broader questions of technology governance down the Internet’s stack.

Travel Fund

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The Public Interest Technology Group (PITG) launched a Travel Fund to allow underrepresented voices to shape the dialogue in key Internet governance and standards bodies, injecting much-needed public interest perspectives.

Who can apply? This fund uniquely targets individuals from underrepresented groups, providing vital access to often exclusive and technically intricate Internet standards forums, historically devoid of civil society voices. It strives to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive landscape of participation and collaboration, bridging gaps between technical Internet governance communities, Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and Civil Society.

Rolling basis. The PITG Travel Fund operates on a rolling basis and prioritizes low-threshold access to funding, aligning with its core objectives and mandate. Read more & apply

Join Us

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Great to see your interest in joining the Public Interest Technology Group!

Membership to the Public Interest Technology Group is no longer open. Only current members can nominate people to join the group.

Please read our Membership Policy, Code of Conduct and our Group policy on confidentiality.

Mapa com pontos de localização, um deles ampliado mostrando uma pessoa sentada com um telefone celular.

Um olhar sobre o grupo de trabalho DULT da IETF a partir de uma perspectiva hacktransfeminista, e por que uma modelagem de ameaças para dispositivos de rastreamento de localização não pode ser tomada como um padrão universal. Read more

Mapa con puntos de ubicación, uno de ellos ampliado donde se ve a una persona sentada con un teléfono móvil.

Una mirada al grupo de trabajo DULT de la IETF desde una perspectiva hacktransfeminista, y por qué un modelo de amenazas para dispositivos de rastreo de ubicación no puede tomarse como un estándar universal. Read more

Map with location points, one point is magnified and a person is sitting there with a mobile phone.

A look at the IETF's DULT working group through a hacktransfeminist lens, and why a threat model for location-tracking devices cannot be taken as a universal standard. Read more