---
title: Community-Owned Technology
date: 2025-07-06
summary: What happens when communities build and own their own technology? From rural broadband cooperatives to artist-owned platforms, communities around the world are showing us what's possible.
featureImageCaption: "Photo by <a href=\"https://unsplash.com/@sahrulfikrilaitupa?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash\">Sahrul Laitupa</a> on <a href=\"https://unsplash.com/photos/a-young-man-sitting-at-a-desk-with-headphones-on-64ONLGrc0HQ?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash\">Unsplash</a>"
aliases:
- /articles/independent-technology/
---

## A different kind of technology

What if the tools you use every day actually belonged to you and your community? Not rented from a distant corporation, not subject to terms that change without notice, but genuinely yours—to use, to understand, to modify, to share?

This isn't a hypothetical. Communities around the world are already building and owning their own technology. And what they're discovering goes far beyond the technical: when communities build together, they become stronger together.

## What community-owned technology looks like

Community-owned technology is software and infrastructure developed, operated, and governed by the people who use it. It comes in many forms:

**Community networks** where neighbors build and maintain their own internet infrastructure, from rural broadband cooperatives to urban wireless mesh networks.

**Platform cooperatives** where the people who create value—drivers, artists, freelancers—own the platforms they work through.

**Self-hosted services** where organizations run their own email, file storage, and collaboration tools on infrastructure they control.

**Federated social spaces** where communities run their own social media instances, connected to others but governed by their own rules.

**Open source projects** where software is developed collaboratively and shared freely, belonging to everyone and no one.

What unites these approaches is a simple principle: the people who use technology should have meaningful control over it.

## Stories from communities

### Neighbors building networks

In Detroit, the Equitable Internet Initiative trains community members to build and maintain wireless networks in their own neighborhoods. What started as a response to inadequate internet access has become something more: a way for neighbors to meet each other, learn together, and build lasting community infrastructure.

"I met more neighbors in three months of antenna installations than in five years of living here," one participant reported. The technology became an excuse for connection.

In rural Minnesota, RS Fiber Cooperative brought high-speed internet to communities that commercial providers had written off as unprofitable. Owned by the people it serves, the cooperative keeps resources local and makes decisions based on community needs, not shareholder returns.

In Catalonia, Guifi.net has grown into one of the world's largest community networks, with over 35,000 active nodes. Built and maintained by volunteers, it demonstrates that community-scale infrastructure can work at remarkable scale.

### Workers owning their platforms

The Drivers Cooperative in New York City is owned by its driver-members. Unlike corporate ride-hail apps that take 40% or more of each fare, the cooperative lets drivers keep most of what they earn while charging riders less. "I'm not working for someone anymore," one driver explained. "I'm working for myself and my fellow drivers."

Stocksy United, a stock photography cooperative, is owned by its contributing artists. Instead of the pennies-per-download that most stock platforms pay, Stocksy artists receive 50-75% of each sale and have a real voice in how the platform operates.

These aren't charity projects—they're businesses that work better because they're owned by the people who create value.

### Communities preserving culture

Indigenous communities are using self-hosted platforms to preserve and share languages and cultural knowledge on their own terms. When you control your own infrastructure, you can implement cultural protocols that global platforms would never support—deciding who can access what knowledge, and how it should be shared.

The First Voices project helps Indigenous communities build digital archives of their languages, hosted on infrastructure the communities control. The technology serves cultural preservation rather than data extraction.

### Artists and creators taking control

Resonate, a music streaming cooperative, is owned by the artists, listeners, and workers who make it run. Instead of the fractions-of-a-penny that major streaming platforms pay per play, Resonate uses a "stream to own" model where listeners gradually purchase the music they love.

Ampled connects musicians directly with supporters through a cooperatively-owned platform. Artists keep more of what they earn, and the platform's direction is shaped by the community it serves.

## What makes it work

Community-owned technology succeeds when it combines several elements:

**Real ownership.** Not just using open source software, but genuinely controlling the infrastructure and governance. The community makes the decisions.

**Shared purpose.** People come together around something they care about—their neighborhood, their profession, their culture, their values.

**Distributed knowledge.** Skills spread through the community so it's not dependent on any single person. Teaching and learning become part of the culture.

**Sustainable economics.** Whether through cooperative ownership, community contributions, or creative business models, the project can sustain itself over time.

**Connection to others.** Independent communities connect with each other, sharing knowledge, resources, and solidarity. Independence doesn't mean isolation.

## What becomes possible

When communities own their technology, new possibilities emerge:

**Technology fits local needs.** Instead of one-size-fits-all platforms designed for global scale, communities get tools shaped by their actual priorities and values.

**Resources stay local.** Money spent on community infrastructure builds community wealth instead of flowing to distant shareholders.

**Skills grow.** People who never thought of themselves as "technical" discover they can learn, contribute, and teach others.

**Resilience builds.** Communities that control their own infrastructure can't be cut off by a company's business decision or a platform's policy change.

**Trust deepens.** When community members can see how their tools work and participate in decisions about them, trust grows.

**Connection happens.** Building together creates relationships that extend far beyond the technology itself.

## Getting started

You don't need to be a technical expert to participate in community-owned technology. Many communities begin with people who are simply curious and willing to learn together.

**Start with what you care about.** What community are you part of? What needs aren't being met by existing tools? What would you build if you could?

**Find others.** You're not alone. Communities around the world are doing this work and are eager to share what they've learned.

**Begin small.** A single self-hosted service, a neighborhood mesh node, a local instance of a federated platform. Start with something tangible and grow from there.

**Learn as you go.** You don't need to know everything before you start. Every community that's built something started with people who were willing to figure it out together.

## An invitation

The Civil Society Technology Foundation exists to help communities build and own their own technology. Our [Wild Cloud project](/projects/wild-cloud/) provides tools that make self-hosting accessible. Our community connects practitioners who are learning and building together.

We believe technology works better when it belongs to the people who use it. We believe communities are capable of building remarkable things when they work together. And we believe the best way to create change is to build alternatives so good that people choose them freely.

Communities around the world are already doing this. Rural cooperatives, urban neighborhoods, artist collectives, advocacy organizations, cultural preservation projects—all discovering what becomes possible when they own their digital homes.

Come see what you might build.
