CoTech Newsletter March 2018
Hey folks!
Thank you for your feedback and contributions following the last newsletter. We’ve got even more stories, events and news this month!
Please help spread the word about this newsletter by sharing it with your colleagues and friends. And if you’d like to subscribe so you don’t miss next month we’ve put some handy instructions together. You can leave comments, suggestions and feedback below or send us an email.
On with the show!
Yours in co-operation, The CoTech newsletter team
Contributing To The Newsletter
- Send feedback or items for the next issue to newsletter@coops.tech
- Join us in #newsletter on the CoTech Slack channel
- Contribute to the project repository
Featured Coop
Autonomic is a worker co-operative. That means we are owned and run by our
workers and not by bosses or investors. We make our decisions collectively
using consensus. We are committed to a set of basic principles of working on
projects for social good. We reject destructive and unsustainable practices
within the tech industry.
Get involved with CoTech
- Help improve how we onboard new cooperatives into the network
- Help shape and organise the coming Wortley Hall 2018 event
- Help test new CoTech video conferencing infrastructure
Projects that need financial support
CoBudget is a way of raising funds from across the CoTech network to pay for projects that benefit us all. You can pledge funds on behalf of your organisation and if successfully funded the organiser of the project will arrange to collect them from you. Anyone can propose a project and we’ll try to highlight any open projects here in the newsletter.
At the moment we’re looking for funders to take out a listing on the London Tech Week (11-17th June 2018) website and host an evening event to promote co-operation and co-operatives in technology.
News
CoTech Community Calls
Laura Hilliger has been hosting and documenting a monthly Community Call for CoTech. It’s a space for anyone in the network to get together, share news and ideas, make plans or ask for advice. Laura has also been writing up and sharing notes after the calls in case you missed them. Keep an eye on the announcements for the date of the next call.
- 3rd CoTech community call write-up
- Minutes from the 3rd call
- 2nd CoTech community call write-up
- Minutes from the 2nd call
Outlandish help people find tranquillity in London
The app is centered around a map of air and noise pollution in London, and also uses map markers to display tranquil places that have been crowd-sourced from Instagram.
Developer Society challenge anti-gay laws
In early January All Out got in touch to see if we could work together on a project that would help people understand the challenges of love around the world, and then help them easily become a part of the movement for equality.
Animorph link consumers with factory workers
The interactive documentary chronicles the past and present story of “Made in China”, intimately linking the lives of the viewers with our main characters, allowing participants to understand the complexity of our global supply chain through stories of factory workers.
Calverts launch a new website
Hot on the heels of their 40th birthday, legendary print co-operative Calverts have a new website.
Webarchitects new hardware and software services
Webarchitects have launched some new services including an installation and support service for running mobile phones, laptops and servers on Free software. They are also now providing Nextcloud (the open-source alternative to workplace software suites from Google and Microsoft) to 4 worker co-operatives. They’ll run a next cloud installation for you too including support for Nextcloud Talk (free, private, peer-to-peer video calls).
- Webarchitects are providing much needed Free hardware services
- Webarchitects are now providing Nextcloud servers for 4 workers co-ops and
Founders and Coders move in to Space4
Founders and Coders, the developer co-operative that offers free coding bootcamps, has moved into Space4 in Islington. If you haven’t visited Space4 there’s a new photo gallery to show you around.
Small Axe develop dyslexia-friendly mobile application
In 2016 we were engaged by the British Dyslexia Association to build a new web app… with adjustable background colours that mimic reading overlays, a dyslexia-friendly font and adjustable type size, users are guided through a journey that makes learning easy, bite-sized and visual.
We Are Open visit the IDB in Washington
We Are Open recently visited the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC to explore how open badges could be used to help economic development in Latin America.
Why I love working at our co-op
Anna Hughes from The Developer Society talks about working for a co-op:
Whether it’s building tech that lets hundreds of thousands of people campaign against inequality, working with leading LGBT activists or helping raising money for lifesaving services for refugees in the Mediterranean, we’re working towards the changes we want to see in the world.
If you want to work for a tech co-op, see who’s hiring below.
What is SolidFund?
Solidfund are a solidarity fund that receive monthly donations from worker co-operatives. The members collectively decide how the money should be spent - to help new co-operatives, co-ops in need or to sponsor educational programs, for example. A Solidfund grant allowed several people who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend the CoTech retreat in Wortley Hall.
UnFound: A development program for Platform Co-operatives
With the rise of the online gig economy, the National Co-operative Development Strategy has called for support for “platform co-operatives using new technology for shared ownership services”. Co-operatives UK are teaming up with Stir To Action to launch UnFound an accelerator programme from May to June 2018.
Collaborations
We’re stronger when we work together.
Here’s a round-up of some collaborations from across the network this month.
- Outlandish chair panel on community wealth
- Media Co-op participate in SCVO organised The Gathering event
- Open Data Services and Connect Fund
History
Anne McElvoy explores how the values and principles of mutualism, based around a commitment to greater equality, and a push for working people to have more control over their lives became a central thrust of a socialist belief system. Her journey begins in Rochdale, where a small band of workers gave birth to the co-operative movement.
Events
- 3 April: Can We Regulate Social Media?
- 25 April: Ethical Careers Fair and Conference at SOAS
- 11 May: Worker Coop Weekend
