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BLOG PERSONAL DE JOSEMA ALONSO

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MIS POSTS EN WEB FOUNDATION

 * OGP Open Data Working Group Announces First Round of Recipients for Open Data
   for Development Research Grants
 * Open Data: Understanding Demand, Underpinning Development
 * Announcing the Open Data for Development Fund Research Grants
 * Gauging the needs and challenges of the global open data community
 * The Global Open Data Initiative Needs Your Input
 * Launching Phase 2 of the Web Foundation’s Open Data Engagement in Indonesia
 * Towards a Common Assessment Method for Open Data
 * The (Future) Role of Open Data in Indonesia
 * Announcing the Global Open Data Initative’s declaration on open data – and
   inviting your feedback
 * Global Open Data Initiative Moving Forward


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20 febrero 2024 by Josema Alonso


LANDING A JOB AFTER A SABBATICAL: REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED SO FAR

 * personal
 * employment, job

About a year ago, I left my job for a sabbatical; several months later, I (very
slowly) started a job search. In this post, I reflect on my own experiences and
share what I have learned in the hope that it may be helpful to you in some way,
even when I understand that everyone’s journey is unique and that what works for
me may not work for you. 


THE CURRENT EMPLOYMENT CONTEXT

The employment context in tech has been challenging for quite some time
already. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and others cut thousands of jobs about a
year ago. There have been more cuts in tech and also in the consulting business.
Companies cite strategic reasons behind this, mainly the slowing economy.
Interestingly, companies this size still hire some while laying off many while
they readjust.

But there is another reason we have heard quite a bit lately: AI is coming for
our jobs (IMF report). Well, while shares go up 7% to an all-time high at
SAP, they are cutting 8,000 jobs because, you know, they are preparing for the
age of AI.

But this is only big tech, you say. Is it?

Mozilla is also cutting 60 jobs (5% of their workforce).

One of the effects is that there are many great, skilled people looking for a
job in this space, and the job searcher-to-job opening ratio is much higher than
it used to be only a few months ago.


THE BACK-TO-OFFICE EFFECT

The pandemic hit some four years ago already. It certainly changed jobs. Remote
is here to stay, they said. One year later, they said that the end of remote
work was nigh.

Over the last several months, I have seen an increasing number of organizations
requiring people to return to the office, most recently IBM. Hybrid is becoming
the norm, and the new standard is three days in the office. Given this reality,
companies that spend significant amounts of money on office space are cutting it
down (e.g. Meta recently paid £149m to break its lease on a central London
office building).

Fully remote roles are still available, and there are job boards devoted to
such. But remember that those, especially if they are global roles, are even
fewer, and the potential candidates can come from all over the world. i.e. there
is more competition for them.

(note: if you’re looking for a less senior and more IT-oriented role, e.g.
DevOps engineer, software developer, UI designer, or similar ones, chances are
much higher for you)


THE ISSUE WITH JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND APPLICATION PROCESSES

Do you know what you want to do next? Maybe you want to be a product manager,
research director, or chief of staff. You may clearly understand what that
entails and start looking for such jobs.

Unluckily for you (and me), those mean different things to different people, so
what you thought was the role of a product manager may match what organization A
thinks it is, but not how organization B defines it. Job descriptions for the
same position title vary significantly from organization to organization.
Frankly, some organizations still need to fully know what they want for some
advertised positions, making your life (and mine) even more difficult.

And if you have a hybrid profile, you know well you do, but it’s difficult to
explain, i.e. you’re a Chimeralogist (like me), then you have an additional
issue to take care of: how to sell yourself well enough. 

The application process can be a frustrating experience. Often, the procedures
are outdated and require you to spend hours filling out the same information
that is already mentioned in your CV, LinkedIn profile, and other places.
Sometimes, you don’t even receive a response from the employers, leaving you
wondering whether they have rejected your application or are still considering
it.

But enough background (and complaining). Let’s get to what I learned and how it
may help you.


LESSONS LEARNED


1. ESTABLISH A CRITERIA

This is my top recommendation. Make yourself these questions and note them down:

 * What kind of job am I interested in?
   * What features must the job have, what would be good to have, and which ones
     do I prefer to avoid?
 * What kind of/level of position am I interested in?
   * Do I like to stay at the level I was? Go higher or lower? Would I sacrifice
     my level and pay to enjoy my job more?
 * What type of organization do I want to work for?
   * For-profit, non-profit, big, small, local, international, what values they
     must have
 * Where do I want to work (physically)?
   * At an office, from home, nomadically?
 * How much time do I prefer to work?
   * Full-time, part-time (if so, how much; e.g. how many days per week)?

Weight your criteria and decide how flexible you want to be. For example, I’m
used to travelling internationally but wanted to stay in the same location. So,
I avoided openings requiring me to move, favouring remote work.


2. LIMIT JOB BOARD REVIEWING TIME

You will have to review hundreds of openings that will not (even remotely) fit
you because the job descriptions are all over the place, the filtering options
are scarce, and the organization you want to work for may not even be posting
there. Infinite scroll is your enemy.

Try to concentrate on the narrowly focused boards related to your interests
instead of the more general ones. Also, check the career pages of organizations
you would like to work for.


3. TALK TO PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK

As a coach put it to me, it is much more likely that your next job will come
through your network when you are at an advanced point in your professional
career. And they were right.

Talk to people. Reconnect with people you haven’t talked to in a while, even if
it has been years, but you still appreciate that person’s opinion. Get in
contact with many. You’ll be surprised. Someone who you thought you knew well
may not even respond. Someone you thought you didn’t know will spend hours
talking with you. All will have their things to add, and all will be valuable in
one way or another. I’m grateful to have been able to spend countless hours
doing so.


4. BE PATIENT AND THOUGHTFUL

Finding the right job takes time and only happens after a while. Plan as much as
you can, be proactive, and wait for the right thing to come (if you can). Take
your time picking something, even if you fear not getting anything. Don’t
despair. 

Thoughtful applications are also part of the process. Do not apply to jobs for
the sake of doing so. Take your time reviewing the opening and filling out the
applications correctly, e.g. writing an excellent customized cover letter
stating your strengths and why you are passionate about the specific role.

One of the main things I wanted to find out when I was on the other side of the
table (as an employer) was to find out how interested the candidate was in
working for the organization and why. And I can tell you, it was always
noticeable.


5. BE PREPARED FOR REJECTION

There are many others interested in the position you want. Even when you advance
in the hiring process and reach the final stage, you may still not get the job.
In the end, there’s only one available.

You may hear different reasons for rejection (too junior, too senior, we decided
to proceed with a more suitable candidate, etc.). Still, a rejection is not a
reflection of your skills or experience. 

As an employer, I’ve struggled to decide upon the two, three, or five runner-ups
more than once because they were all excellent, and the differences were
minimal. This is a good place to be as an employer, making it more difficult to
err because no matter who you choose, you will get someone great for your team.
But it’s certainly not as good when you are a candidate.


6. GO WHERE YOU ARE CELEBRATED

Someone recently introduced me to trophy jobs, jobs that people covet for their
status more than their substance. It’s mostly a matter of values.

True that the title and the pay are sometimes too appealing to pass, but would
you like to get such in a toxic environment? — Remember, establish a criteria
and stick to it.

We spend much of our lives in our work environment, so we better find one where
we can enjoy what we do and people enjoy working with us. If you feel there are
places where you are celebrated and that fit your criteria, put those at the top
of your list. It will make a significant difference. 


PARTING THOUGHTS

As I said at the beginning, this post is based on my own experience and case at
this time, but I hope it helps you better navigate your own job search. Keep
searching, and don’t despair!

Photo: Sunset, Isla de la Palma, Verano 2023.






12 septiembre 202318 diciembre 2023 by Josema Alonso


ENDING THE SABBATICAL – ONTO THE JOB SEARCH

 * personal
 * jobsearch, open data, open web

TL;DR – hence brief executive summary: looking for a job in open web, open
government, open data, open standards, digital rights.

As the saying goes, all (good) things come to an end. I wrote back in January
about the start of a sabbatical period. It’s been a great experience but with
some ups and downs. Let me share one positive and one negative.

I love music, especially rock music. One of my dreams since I was young was to
play an instrument, but I needed to be determined enough to do so. The drums
have always been my favorite. What better time than this year when I had much
free time to spare? So I started taking drumming lessons!

Making your four limbs act independently hurts. Our brains are not trained
adequately for this, and the limbs don’t want to cooperate. The beginnings were
frustrating, but I persevered. I practiced many, many, many hours (I still do),
and I started to improve, slowly but steadily.

Things that seemed impossible a couple of months ago are now accessible. Some
others are still tough and will be for a while. 

I can now drum to some of my favorite songs with reasonable accuracy and have a
blast when I sit behind the kit!

But not all was rosy. I was unfortunate enough to break a leg. This was my first
broken bone in about 15 years. I was grounded for about two months (plans
derailed, no drumming, no traveling, grumpiness)… and this happened only one
month into my sabbatical. But, hey, so is life.

When I could walk reasonably well again, I took revenge and went on a family
trip to Italy, where we visited Milan and the Lake Como area and had a relaxing
stay.


View from the beautiful Villa del Balbianello





Now, having read quite a bit and having talked to quite a few intelligent people
about life, the status of things, and the landscape I work in (thanks to all who
took the time!), I’m feeling ready to get back to work again.

I haven’t looked for a job in a very long time, and I’m still starting. Going
through newsletters, reviewing job boards, contacting people 1:1…, and even
applying already.

I intend to work on any of the topics that are closest to my heart, and I enjoy
working on: the open web, open government, open data, open standards, and
digital rights. I have deep expertise and experience, so I can shine and help
others shine.

Please contact me if you know of any jobs or consulting opportunities that align
well with my experiences and interests.

Finding the right fit will surely take me a while, but I’m ready.


4 enero 202318 diciembre 2023 by Josema Alonso


MOVING ON TO NEW HORIZONS – LEAVING THE WEB FOUNDATION AFTER 12 YEARS

 * personal
 * web foundation
 * 3 comentarios

People who know me well know that I hate farewells. It’s not my thing; what can
I say? I think it’s because they are too hard for me to deal with. And this one,
oh, this one, it’s even tougher, so even when such a tenure would deserve a long
post, please do understand I need to keep this brief.

I was very excited and optimistic when I joined the Web Foundation in 2011
moving on from W3C and CTIC. It is a move I haven’t regretted a single moment.
I’ve been the Foundation’s longest serving team member after 12 years there, and
taking the decision to leave has been extremely difficult; I still feel a hole
in my heart.

I have been Director of Programs (Open Data, then Digital Citizenship), Director
of Strategy and Partnerships, Director of Strategy and Operations, and Interim
CEO (twice!). This, combined with my years of tenure, means that I have
participated in and managed quite a few exciting projects, worked with
incredible partners, donors, board members and teammates and, of course, learned
a thing or two along the way.

I reflected on my experiences on and about the Web in 2019 when we celebrated
the 30th anniversary of the Web. Towards the end of that year, we completed the
Contract for the Web that I was managing and it was launched at the IGF in
Berlin by Tim, the partners (big and small), and the team. One of the best
memories I’ll keep about my years at WF.



Most of the Web Foundation’s Contract for the Web Team at its launch at the IGF
Berlin in November 2019.



I then handed it over and took a more inward-facing position where I thought the
organization needed me the most, leading Operations and Strategy. This kept me
very busy at the beginning of the pandemic, in which, as several donors and
board members said: “we didn’t miss a beat” (I would say because the
organization’s default state was/is online, remote, and decentralized). 2022 saw
me taking the helm as CEO to re-shape strategy, and to rationalize activities
and the organization as a whole to make it leaner and stronger. It was a very
intense task to say the least that left me completely exhausted and in clear
need for a break that I’m now taking. I’m going on a sabbatical for a few
months, hoping to see new places, connect with old and new friends, reflect on
the past and think about what to do next in my professional career.

There are so many people to thank… Please allow me to keep it to the three who
made this amazing ride possible in the first place: my former W3C and Web
Foundation colleague Stephane Boyera; former W3C and Web Foundation CEO Steve
Bratt; and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. They were instrumental in allowing me to join
the Web Foundation.

I’m moving on, but the Web Foundation will always have a very special place in
my heart and I wish it every success in the future.

12 marzo 201919 octubre 2023 by Josema Alonso


REFLECTING ON (MY NEARLY) 30 YEARS OF WORLD WIDE WEB

 * personal
 * 1 comentario


INTRODUCTION

We are celebrating today the 30th anniversary of the Web. I’m taking this moment
in time to reflect on my personal history of and with the Web; but summarizing
more than 25 years in a few words is not an easy task, especially for someone
like me.

I didn’t want to skip any of the stories below because I have cherished them
over the years and I still do. They are part of me. They contributed to make me
who I am today. I hope they may give others some useful information about what
the Web was, is, and may well be, from a humble insider.


THE EARLY DAYS

My beginnings at the University were not any good. I was not properly advised
before taking a decision on what to do after school. I was young, had no clear
ideas as to what I would like to work on in my adult life, and ended up joining
most of my classmates and heading to Industrial Engineering, no less, with no
clue about what it was about and what it would entail.

The road was way too bumpy. After almost three years wasting my time on
something that was clearly not my cup of tea, I decided to take a sort of
U-turn. In the middle of my third year I decided to stop and express how I felt
at home. I wanted to give up and move on. It was not well received (let’s leave
it there).

I decided to take proper advice and went to Madrid to visit one of my aunts, a
professor whom had lots of connections in the education sector. I met several of
her peers working in different knowledge areas but most of them science-related
because that was the only thing I knew with some certainty. After a short while,
I got really impressed with something I had only experienced before when I was
younger and had a Sinclair ZX Spectrum at home: computing.



ZX Spectrum+ Computer (1984)
(Bill Bertram, CC-BY-2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Spectrum was mainly for me at the time the equivalent of what we know today
as a gaming console. Some of you may still remember the cassette tapes, and the
waiting time hearing the annoying (fax machine-like) noise to load a game to
play on the Spectrum connected to a TV set. Besides gaming, I hardly wrote a
couple lines of code on it using BASIC on that thing.
(Oh, my, I’m showing my age quite a bit here!)



But back to my visit to Madrid. Computing was a pretty different game then that
what I had experienced. I could see some IBM PCs for the first time in my life
(I was lucky a couple years after when I could get one for myself) and see what
some computer programs could do by the time; nothing fancy but certainly amazing
to me. I was hooked. I decide to enroll in the Computer Science school the year
after and so I did.

Although I had used Bulletin Board systems (BBS) and Newsgroups a bit before, it
was there when I first used e-mail, on a Unix-based computer using Pine. I had
been previously fascinated by the first fax machine I could use (in my father’s
office) and the possibility of transmitting a document over the wire to anywhere
in the world. This time, the technology was at my fingertips. I could write a
text, hit send, and someone would receive it instantly on the other side of the
world. And that was just the beginning.


THE WEB



The original NeXT computer used by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to design the World Wide
Web and also the first web server (1989)
(© Science Museum)



I was lucky the University was one of the first in Spain to embrace the Web and
setup their own Web server, and so I got to browse the Web for the first time
using Lynx; yes, all text-based in black and white. The browsing experience only
got richer with time. But there’s something I remember very clearly as one of
the all-time best memories of my Web history.

I have always been a music fan. As I recently read, it seems your music taste
forms at a particular time in your life. In my case, it was in the early 1990s
and the «new» american alternative rock called «grunge»; remember Nirvana and
Smells Like Teen Spirit and all the other bands from Seattle and nearby places?
My long time favorite band has been since Pearl Jam. It was 1994 when they
released their Vitalogy album and 1995 when they toured in support of it.

I had been already engaged in mailing lists of fans and contributing to a
fanzine called Release. We all were eagerly awaiting the release of that new
album and highly anticipating the new tour. More fan-led websites had already
emerged. If memory serves, Five Horizons was one of the first.

I will always remember the first time I loaded a page with the review of a show
and could see a photo (very slowly, line by line) loading on the screen in full
color with Mike McCready jumping during a guitar solo (I wish I remembered which
show it was, too, but my memory is not that good). Something apparently
insignificant today made me see the potential back then.



Pearl Jam Live (© Pearl Jam)
(not the actual photo from 1995, but close)



Many fans like me also spent quite some time collecting and exchanging music.
Pearl Jam have always been in favor of people recording their shows and sharing
them, to the extent they have been releasing them officially as bootlegs since a
few years ago. I remember becoming mailing list friends with a few people and
exchanging material with them. There was this guy, Andrew, from Australia, with
whom I remember I exchanged quite a few recordings. This, by the time, meant
recording to a cassette tape (a CD later on), packing it, sending it to the
antipodes at a quite expensive cost and waiting for the small packet to
hopefully arrive a few weeks later there. (As an aside: Andrew and I had the
chance to meet in person in Spain while he was following the band during their
1996 European Tour.)

Fast forward a couple years and there was no more postal service involved.
Recordings converted to MP3 format first, FLAC (lossless) later, were now only a
click away, shared via mailing lists and fan web pages.

And what about my career in the meantime? I kept on being increasingly
fascinated by what the Web was becoming and allowing us to do. I started to
focus more on Web standards and technologies. I got to know what the W3C was,
learned HTML, Javascript, got to build a few small websites; also started to
slightly engage on open source related efforts (XML’s based Apache Cocoon) to
the extent my final year project was titled «Extreme XML». I knew I wanted to
spend my professional career working to get the most out of the Web.

I took a few small jobs locally here and there where I could work building
websites but also have some time to keep on learning on my own. At a point in
time, I started with a university colleague a small e-commerce startup. I failed
miserably. I was not an entrepreneur. But it was a great learning experience.

I then had the chance to join as an intern a leading group at the University who
was building one of the first e-learning platforms, and later move to a private
company to build a similar one, this time as project lead. I was leveraging the
Web as much as I could from a technical point of view.


MY MOST SIGNIFICANT MOVE

One of the most known institutions in my hometown is the Princess (formerly
Prince) of Asturias Foundation (FPA). Their awards are very prestigious and
widely known, and their laureates have been numerous times precursor of those of
the Nobel Prizes. In 2002, a group of four Internet and Web pioneers: Lawrence
Roberts (who sadly passed away last December), Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf and Tim
Berners-Lee, where given the Technical & Scientific Research Award.



Vinton Cerf, Lawrence Roberts, Robert Kahn, and Tim Berners-Lee, Technical &
Scientific Research Award, Prince of Asturias Awards (2002)
(© FPA)



As it usually happens, there were quite a number of side meetings between local,
regional and national organizations and the laureates, and there was hope
something would emerge from those meetings.

One year after, W3C was considering establishing a presence in Spain and,
instead of the usual location for these things (Madrid or Barcelona), our region
was chosen. I knew nothing about this by the time.



World Wide Web Consortium (2003) (W3C)



A former colleague and a close friend since, called me in September 2003 to tell
me rumor had it W3C was coming to Spain, to be established in our region and
that they were looking for someone to lead it. He gave me a contact and I sent
my CV right away although I was skeptical about the whole thing. Honestly, there
were chances given the award the previous year but still.

Then it all happened pretty fast: the organization to host W3C in Spain called
me, interviewed me, hired me, appointed me and announced the launch with a
significant public event later in October. A couple weeks later, I was on my way
to my first truly serious W3C international meeting, in Yokohama, Tokyo, and to
meet Sir Tim for the first time. I will always be thankful to Pablo Priesca, CEO
at CTIC for the opportunity he gave me.

It was an amazing ride. We raised awareness, we trained people, we built a
community, we significantly increased the number of members of the Consortium in
Spain, we gave away prizes… we even toured the country in a bus!



W3C Spain Bus Tour in Valencia (2004)
(CC-BY Josema Alonso)



One of the things I realized about during my tenure was the gap between
technology and public policy. It puzzled me policy makers had to do policy
design and development, lawmakers had to draft and pass legislation… without
knowing much if anything about the thing at the core, the Web.



W3C Team Photo (2007)
(© Richard Ishida)



In 2007 I started to focus much more on this. I became a fellow at W3C working
full time on it. My then manager at W3C, Danny Weitzner, and myself organized a
workshop in Washington D.C., USA, including high-level representatives from
academia and government, mainly from the UK and USA to discuss cutting edge Web
technologies in the context of government.


OPEN DATA



Open Data Sticker (2010)
(CC-BY OKF)



These were very interesting years for government and the Web, governments had
started to use and embrace new ways to interact with their constituencies using
social media, and we were starting to talk about data (due to mashups and the
increasing number of rich applications on the Web) more than ever before. The 8
principles of open government data were coined at the end of that year.

In 2008, the W3C eGov Activity was formally launched. I was appointed to manage
it and set up its Interest Group chaired by a representative from the UK
government and another from the US Government, whom since also became friends.
The Group had quite a lot of work to do, the scope was wide so we had to narrow
it down and we did so focusing on one main area, open data, and a secondary one,
social media.



Tim Berners-Lee, The Next Web (2009)
(© TED)



2009 was a big year for open data. In February, Tim delivered a TED talk when he
led the audience in a chant: «Raw Data Now!». In May, the US Government launched
Data.gov. In September, the UK Government launched Data.gov.uk. Many other open
data portals followed the years after.

I was a privileged member of the open data community. I participated in and
managed projects for several governments in Spain at the local and regional
levels, including the national government one and also the beginnings of the one
in Ghana. The energy was amazing at the time. The forthcoming State of Open Data
will tell the story of the last 10 years of open data much better than I can do
here, so keep an eye on its publication later this year.


SOCIAL IMPACT

I have always considered myself an unusual software engineer. The great majority
of my colleagues have loved to code. I don’t. I could do it in my early career
years and do it reasonably well but I was not very good. I’ve been more
interested in the technology/policy/society gap, how the Web permeates an
increasing number of the most important aspects of our lives, and how the
offline and online world frontiers are increasingly blurred.

The W3C’s mission was, and still is, «to lead the World Wide Web to its full
potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term
growth of the Web». I have reflected on this quite a few times. If we intend to
«lead the Web to its full potential» we clearly cannot do so «by developing
protocols and guidelines» alone. Alone here is the key.

The work W3C and other technically-oriented organizations do is essential for
the Web to function and grow, but it’s not enough. I had thought we needed to do
more at W3C either on our own or in collaboration with others.



World Wide Web Foundation (2009)
(CC-BY-SA Web Foundation)



As early as 2007, a few W3C staff started to work on a plan to accelerate access
to the Web for the 80% (at the time) of the world not using it, and to
accelerate the use of the Web for making positive social and economic change.
And, yes, positive social and economic change is the key here. This work led to
the establishment of the World Wide Web Foundation in 2009 with former W3C CEO
Steve Bratt as its first CEO and my former W3C colleague Stephane Boyera as Lead
Program Manager.

I had been observing this at a distance, both intrigued and excited.



Web Foundation Team Photo (2011)
(CC-BY Web Foundation)



One of the areas the Foundation wanted to embrace from the very beginning was
open data. I was given the opportunity by my former colleagues to interview for
the position of open data lead. I have great memories of my interview with Tim
over video conference. I really pushed him on the social impact front and I
remember we had a great conversation and I left saying something like: we’re
almost 100% in agreement and I would love to take this position if you guys were
to formally propose so. And they did, and I joined part time (50%) as a start,
leaving all other jobs and commitments behind.



ODDC Preparatory Workshop, Brasilia (2012)
(CC-By Josema Alonso)



Even when I was still working on open data, I was more focused than ever on the
social impact. I got to manage the biggest open data project at the Web
Foundation, «Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries
(ODDC)«, along with the Open Data Research Network (something that would have
not been possible without the support of Fernando Perini at IDRC and the hiring
of my former colleague Tim Davies). We wanted to ensure the benefits open data
promised were also reaped by the Global South, something missing in the open
data agenda until then. We were able to support 17 partners in 15 countries and
produce amazing cutting edge research and initial impact in several places.

I learned from one of my professors some projects are like babies: you love them
so much, you protect them, you see them grow, you have a hard time letting them
go. Yes, this was the case when the project ended. But I was also (I am still)
proud of how we laid the groundwork for our partners to become leaders in their
respective work and geographic areas.

I also held quite a few open data leadership and advisory roles around that
time, including the Open Government Partnership, the International Open Data
Charter, Open Ownership and Open Contracting. And I could grow the program from
half of me to a nearly 16 people team!


BACK TO THE FUTURE WEB

So, yes, open data as something inextricably linked to the Web. As I heard from
an audience member at one of my public talks: open data would have not existed
without the Web.

But what about the rest of the Web in the meantime and, especially, over the
last couple years? Quite a bit of bad stuff, to be frank.

As we wrote in The Case #ForTheWeb:
«Open a newspaper, turn on the television or scroll through your Twitter feed,
and you’re likely to see a story about how the World Wide Web is under threat.
We’ve lost control of our personal data and that data is being weaponised
against us. The power to access news and information from around the globe is
being manipulated by malicious actors. Online harassment is rampant, and
governments are increasingly censoring information online — or shutting down the
internet altogether.»

Going back to music for a moment, two of my favorite bands have recently
reflected on this. Muse‘s «Simulation Theory» talks about Algorithms and Fake
News, while A Perfect Circle‘s «Eat The Elephant» touches on how dependence on
hyperconnectivity and social media is damaging our societies.

These issues have been mainstream for a while now.

I have asked several friends and colleagues what I personally, and we at the Web
Foundation, should do to reverse this trend. I didn’t get many specific answers
but there was a common theme: the Web used to be a good place but it’s not
anymore, can you make it good again?  And it strongly resonated with me.



#ForTheWeb (2018)
(CC-BY Web Foundation)



The Web Foundation launched #ForTheWeb late last year, a global campaign to
unite people as one voice to get governments, companies and the public to stand
up for a free, open and safe web that benefits everyone. As Tim had mentioned
before:
“If we spend a certain amount of time using the internet we have to spend a
little proportion of that time defending it, worrying about it, looking out for
it… Do me a favour, fight for it for me.”

As we were winding down open data activities, narrowing our focus and starting
#ForTheWeb, I was given the opportunity to move to a newly created position,
Director of Strategy and Partnerships. One of the responsibilities of the
position is to manage strategically key projects and initiatives, and so I was
proposed to manage one of the main pieces of #ForTheWeb, the Contract.

Tim released, on behalf of the Web Foundation, the Principles for the Contract
on Nov 5, 2018. The idea is that those would serve as the basis to
collaboratively develop a full Contract, a document/covenant governments,
companies and citizens around the world can commit to, to help protect the open
web as a public good and a basic right for everyone. We got so far the
participation of many of the key players in the private sector, civil society
and governments. We have enaged 6,000 people and there are several working
groups building the Contract with nearly 100 participants representing more than
40 organizations. And this is only the beginning.

I am (we are) fully committed to make this a success, to raise the bar by which
we hold the various stakeholders to account and, what is much more important,
ensure the web becomes, again, a good place.

Now, some may expect me to say: this is a daunting task so wish us luck. But I
have (not too long ago) converted to optimism. I believe the trend can be
reversed and everyone has a role to play to ensure the web serves humanity,
hence here’s my request: if you have not joined us, please do so now and play
your part!



Me, Noa, Tim in Bilbao (2011)
(© Richard Ishida)



So here I am, back to the basics, I think. #ForTheWeb, for me, for you, for the
future generations.

Despite what you may have heard, the Web is not dead and it’s not going to die
any time soon.

Long live the Web!

21 julio 201721 julio 2017 by Josema Alonso


NO MORE MANELS! #NOMANELS

 * gender

I have promised not to serve on men-only panels.

Join me and dozens of others and sign the pledge at: http://www.owen.org/pledge

 


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