Weaving Digital Infrastructure for Community Self-Organization

We are a community of volunteers in Ottawa researching and assembling open-source tools to enrich the commons.

The Mission

We believe that big tech is not fit for the needs of our local communities. Extractive platforms often prioritize profit over connection. We think we can do better.

Our goal is to foster digital and civic literacy while developing tools that belong to the people who use them. We are trying to enrich the commons, creating a digital fabric that supports our neighbourhoods.

Our Approach

Assembling, Not Just Building: We don’t think all of our tools need to be build from scratch. We’re exploring open-source components and protocols that we can assemble into an easy-to-use toolbox for communities.

Researching Decentralization: We are researching decentralized technologies that ensure tools are resilient, private, and community-owned.

Community-Based Innovation: We are currently in a design requirements gathering phase. We work with local groups to ensure we are solving real problems and involve them in solutioning.

What We’re Working on Right Now

Local Research and Co-Design

Listening to Ottawa communities to define what they need. Find our survey here.

Prosocial Tech Ecosystem Mapping

Identifying other tools and groups that align with our mission. See the map here.

Decentralized Tech Research

Evaluating protocols like AT, ActivityPub, IPFS, and others.

Get Involved

Join the Commons Fabric! All help is welcome. All ages, all backgrounds. You do not need to be a coder to contribute.

When and Where: We meet every Tuesday at 6:30pm at Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre (815 St. Laurent Blvd) in Room 103

Also, join the conversation on our community chat:

Join us on Zulip

Our group convened through Ottawa Civic Tech – a larger umbrella organization helping match local community needs with technical skills. The group organizes on Slack and shares their meetup schedule on Meetup.

You can also contact us at contact@commonsfabric.ca

The Commons Fabric Project