We are delighted to report that we recently held an Asia-Pacific Meetup, co-organized with our friends, Reset.Tech Australia.
This was a wonderful opportunity to gather, meet, and be in conversation with our friends who couldn’t attend our June summit due to timezone constraints. There were 22 independent tech researchers in attendance from across Australia as well as India, Sri Lanka and Thailand – many of whom hadn’t met before. It was important to create time and space to get to know one another across this vast region, and to learn about each other’s work.
Our main focus for this meet up was to discuss key issues and topics. Similar to our June summit we created breakout groups under 3 areas: Policy, Research methods, and Technical infrastructure. Collectively we understood that these groups were about creating the groundwork and connecting experiences for future collaborations, and next conversations.
Below, we have outlined key takeaways from each group:
- Policy: the conversation focused on changing corporate, legislative, and judicial policies to create a thriving ecosystem of public interest and independent technology research. Members highlighted a lack of transparency around who the stakeholders are in policy consultations, and that there is a rhetoric of a dichotomy between regulation and innovation that can be unhelpful. This group discussed the policies needed to enable evidence creation for policy-making, such as preserving researcher access.
- Ethical and technical infrastructure: This discussion centred on the tools, datasets, computational power, funding, talent, expertise, and more that are needed to truly support research independent of the technology industry itself. Members emphasized the need to focus on outcomes over mere access. We should prioritize what can be achieved in internet governance spaces rather than simply getting a seat at the table. Additionally, we must leverage collective efforts among researchers, organizations, and tool builders to create shared “evidence bases” and interoperable tools. This would facilitate secure information sharing, develop non-competitive spaces for sharing research findings, and ensure the safety of individuals involved in reporting
- Research methods and ethics: our conversation centred on challenges around existing practices and the shifting landscape of independent technology research. It is essential to ensure ethical oversight in technology research, but ethical review boards are not always available for independent researchers. It is critical for technology researchers to stay informed about emerging methods, tools, and particularly legislation that impact data collection. Differences in data laws and regulations globally may hinder research efforts, leaving independent technology researchers open to “lawfare”. One way to combat this is to seek pro bono legal support from organizations specializing in platform-related issues.
We’re committed to continuing these conversations on a regular basis; this was a great opportunity to pilot that alongside Reset.Tech! We are keen to continue fostering discussion in future. If you would like to keep up to date with our work, please follow us Transparenttech on X and consider applying to join as a member of the Coalition!