The Tech Sovereignty Monthly Meet Up

A monthly, peer-led space to discuss tech sovereignty, swap ideas, and find real alternatives to big tech.

We are Natasha and Tim from CoTech, a network of 28 worker-owned digital and tech cooperatives in the UK.

We want to advance the debate around tech sovereignty with a view to helping more organisations and people understand the issues and risks involved in using big tech and empowering them to move away from it.

This meet up is...

A facilitated peer-to-peer knowledge sharing space for:

• discussing tech sovereignty
• networking
• show and tell
• sharing ideas
• exploring platforms
• finding solutions that work!

Who’s it for?

Anyone with an interest in tech sovereignty or open source technologies: developers, product owners, comms folks, political technologists, policy makers, IT folks, and more.

We’d particularly love to see

• People active in open source technology communities
• People actively working on moving themselves or their clients away from big tech
• People building or using ethical digital tools who are willing to share their workflows

First session format

0–15 min Welcome
Quick round of names + one sentence on why you're here. Write name and org on sticker and then we’ll put them on a sheet and people can take a photograph at the end.

15–25 min: Open pitch round
Anyone with a tool, workflow, or burning question writes it on a post-it, sticks it on the wall. We cluster them live into 3–4 topics.

25–55 min****:**** Self-selected small groups (4–6 people) around each topic
This is where the "show and tell" and "exploring platforms" bits naturally happen.

55–70 min Regroup
Report-back per group, just highlights, not minutes.

70–80 min Next session planning discussion
Meeting planned forTuesday 13th October 15:00-15:30.

80-90 min Open mingling
Peer connections that started in small groups can continue one-on-one.

About the Venue

SPACE4 is Islington's cooperative tech space for social change – where tech, coops, and people who give a damn come together.

We're part of Outlandish, a tech worker-cooperative built to do things differently. Running SPACE4 lets us invest directly in our local community, democratic business, and grassroots movements through affordable workspace, networking and training events.

We're a hub for social innovators and digital activists, so if that sounds like you, don't hesitate to get in touch or visit us.

SPACE4 Website: https://space4.tech

Follow us on socials: https://linktr.ee/space4coop