The Local Relational Technologist

Who can we rely on for meaningful software in our communities?

In this post, Josh kicks off a new series on the role of a local relational technologist. We’d love your thoughts on the questions and explorations shared here!

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For the past six months, I’ve been playing a new and interesting role in my community – I’ve served as a local relational technologist here in the Outer Sunset in San Francisco. It’s not an always-on role, but it’s become an everyday thing. I’m almost never alone in neighborhood projects, but I do have unique and specific responsibilities. It’s been joyful and messy and has brought me so much closer to folks around me!

We’ve been building and experimenting in a rich, interconnected way. There are some Sunset examples in RTP’s remixable tools library here. The role has given me a permission slip to get to know more people around me, to openly talk about what and who we care about, and to express ourselves through creating things together. I hope my neighbors feel they can rely on me to co-create and help build tools that help people connect, organize, and care for and about one another.

One way I’ve made sense of this role is to draw parallels to local bakers, artists, and baker-artists (like speciality cake makers)! For those roles, it’s okay for there to only be a few folks doing that work, and it’s normal for some people to only do it as hobbies (or even just once, to experience and understand it a bit more). But importantly, quality of life is improved for communities when there are some folks locally who treat the work as craft.

My experience has inspired me to share some reflections on this role and adjacent possibilities! There’s too much to explore or unpack in one post, so this will be a series. I’ll start by sharing some intuitions and imaginations, inviting you all to share ideas, ask questions, and join in!

some random pics of my neighborhood, so you have a sense of the place!

If we want grounded, local software…

We need embedded, local, relational technologists! This might be obvious, but the software follows the people and their practices. If we want inclusive, diverse local software, we need lots of folks to feel invited into this role – and to have permission to do this with their neighbors.

I can imagine teachers, small business owners, caregivers, and other local leaders developing tech agency and building what people need and want. I can also imagine folks with high degrees of tech agency finding community practice as they seek meaningful, rooted work. In short, I see many paths for many people.

Modes of practice

I don’t think “full-time” or “part-time” applies neatly to this role. (Definitely not “on-demand.”) It’s more like full-person, when-called (needed or inspired). It channels service and gift energy. It’s also mutually reinforcing with other roles, as I definitely have a bunch of roles where I live.

Based on my recent experience and past experiences, I can imagine multiple modes of practice, e.g.

• Through an apprenticeship pathway for new folks

• As a solo relational technologist

• As part of a local team organized within a school, library, or local group

• In a co-op or community-run studio

Self- and community discovery

You might already be or become a local relational technologist if you…

• Feel inspired to build tools or systems that you, your family, or your neighbors want or need

• Sense that things could become different than they are right now

• Like to create new culture through practice, rituals, and experiences

• Hear about someone doing this work in your neighborhood or in another place, e.g. through the Relational Tech Project ;)

• Experience local relational tech and wonder about the work involved in bringing it to life!

You might learn about someone doing this work if you…

• See “built with love by your neighbors” in a footer

• Scan a QR code on a pole or bulletin board

• Encounter a list of community-run services at a local book store or library

In the best version, discovery becomes part of everyday life, and new relational technologists are welcomed into a community of practice and support as they take their first steps.

Making a living

Understanding people need money to survive today, we need to find ways to make this role economically viable. I think we’re at the start of creative and brave explorations here, with lots of experimentation and public learning ahead. I can imagine experimentation along the lines of…

• Community member subscriptions

• Local public funding and grants through libraries, schools, parks, and other community orgs

• Private philanthropy, including hyperlocal, local, regional, and national giving

• Cooperative revenue-sharing and cashflow smoothing via multi-neighborhood teams

The case for investment is strong and growing. Creative models will emerge across the country, and critically, any investment or business model needs to support the process and practices of relational tech.

Normal and hyperlocal

The ratio for a given tool in my neighborhood has been roughly 1 primary builder to 100 people who rely on and co-create it. That ratio produces fit-for-community ideas, real accountability, and prosocial ways of showing up. Small software is beautiful, meaningful, and specific to places.

An invitation

As you can tell, I’m excited about this new and emerging role. There’s so much to explore, including new ways of being and belonging with others.

If you’re interested in learning more, stay tuned for future posts in this series. If you want to dive into the practice with us, please join the network at the Relational Tech Project!