Digital Inclusion in an Unequal World (Episode 23) – Ugo Vallauri on “The Right to Repair”

This is the twenty-third episode of our podcast based on the vignettes contributed by friends and colleagues to Tim Unwin’s new book Digital Technologies in an Unequal World: An Empancipatory Manfesto. In it, Ugo Vallauri shows how “it’s possible to give devices a second lease of life, to create abundance and digital access out of Big Tech’s deliberate attempts to make products obsolete, with extortionate pricing of spares, repair-averse design and increasingly using software as a weapon”. He shows how Restart Parties and Repair Cafés provide part of the answer to a more sustainable digitsal future, noting that “in Africa, Asia and South America repair remains vital: a necessity, not a privilege”.

The full vignette can be read here.

All audio files relating to the book are also available on our podcast with a new episode every week.

Ugo is co-founder/co-director of The Restart Project, a charity which promotes repair to change our throwaway economy. He’s a co-founder of Right to Repair Europe, a coalition advocating for ambitious right to repair legislation. Ugo is a fellow of the Ashoka Foundation in Italy, with 20 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector

Full details of the book are available through the following links:


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Jamie’s background cuts across research, education and technology. He has worked in tech start-ups, across UK Government digital teams, and established a school construction NGO in Malawi. He wrote this contribution whilst seconded to EdTech Hub from FCDO, and maintains keen research interests in the development of climate resilient and sustainable school infrastructure. Full details … Continue reading Digital Inclusion in an Unequal World (Episode 22) – Jamie Proctor on “The Right People, Building Things They Understand, and Striving to Deliver Directly for Citizens”
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