Netgain Challenge

Philanthropy needs to understand technology (and its adjacencies - data, networks, etc.) not simply as a set of discrete tools, but a whole new form of societal infrastructure. So long as that infrastructure is 100% proprietary and commercial, it will be used to create a wedge of inequity into society, benefiting some as the expense of others. Like all major forms of infrastructure, technology is already and will increasingly disrupt every sector - industry, government, civil society - and community. Philanthropy must 1) recognize that technology will disrupt every program it has; and 2) help shape the development of the technology infrastructure to benefit society as a whole and drive the changes it's attempting to make in various programs.