مبادرة تقنية تدفع بإنترنت يحمي من التجسس

The University of Massachusetts Amherst in the United States has launched the "Public Digital Infrastructure" initiative to build open-source platforms that give individuals greater control over their data and limit the dominance of major corporations in the digital space. The project focuses on developing reusable, standardized tools that rely on transparency and design that balances privacy and innovation, enabling communities, academic institutions, and the nonprofit sector to operate reliable digital services without excessive data collection.

The initiative's organizers believe that the rise in breaches and data leaks has created an urgent need for a model that places the user at the center of the equation; a user who is not a "data commodity," but a partner in governance. The initiative clarifies that it operates on two integrated levels: an engineering level that develops protocols and identity and access permission systems that reduce the impact of surveillance, and a community level that establishes participatory local governance frameworks that minimize the risks of monopolization. Digital researchers indicate that this approach could map an alternative internet, where public services are built on the foundation of "social utility" rather than profit maximization, with the potential for adoption by cities, universities, libraries, and civil society organizations. Observers suggest that the success of initial experiments will attract coalition funding and launch a wave of projects that rival "public utilities" but in a modern digital format.