We must prioritize trust in digital infrastructure

How do we do this? Those at the helm of infrastructure projects can reach out to communities who may be hesitant to new systems, listen to their fears, and bring them in on the design and implementation.

We can’t achieve an equitable future, powered by these cutting-edge tools, networks, and systems, until we invest in building trust from the ground up.

Today’s emerging technologies have the capacity to launch our societies leap years ahead, but it’s evident—even in these systems’ earliest stages—that trust will be difficult to earn.

we must continue and double down on our efforts to bring overlooked and underrepresented voices to the room where infrastructure is being built to ensure it accounts for diverse perspectives. We also must listen and understand where the hesitations lie in order to address them in a substantial manner that lays the groundwork on which to establish t... See more

Trust in digital infrastructure is not a given… and it’s certainly not free. Technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum where everyone blindly accepts it. Instead, it operates in a complicated and nuanced world in which people’s lived experiences give them reason to be wary of new inventions.

Likewise, trust in digital infrastructure shouldn’t be presumed. When we each approach these systems, we don’t do so with a blank slate. Instead, we bring our unique identities with us and our values, beliefs and backstories shape how we understand and respond to the technology, even when it’s built to help us.

Despite the techno-utopian myth that most citizens trust the digital infrastructure underpinning our modern world, the recent data abuses of Big Tech have fueled newfound skepticism toward these digital innovations.

In order to create digital infrastructure that works and makes a difference, we cannot take trust for granted.

We have to recognize that for some, they are viewing tech interventions through the lens of generational trauma and wrongdoing.