Concept
Digital public infrastructure
Not every public website is public infrastructure. A system becomes infrastructure-like when it helps organise recognition, access, proof, information, correction, or accountability.
Read noteNotes
Notes
Notes are short public-facing texts explaining concepts, distinctions, and practical tensions that recur across Public Layer Lab’s research.
They can be read independently. Together, the existing notes provide some of the foundational vocabulary used across the work: public authority, digital public infrastructure, accountability, contestability, responsibility, and repair.
Foundational notes
Concept
Public authority
Public authority is not only exercised through visible commands or decisions. It can also be shaped by systems that classify, validate, route, explain, or repair.
Read noteIntersections
Why transparency is not the same as accountability
Public information matters, but accountability depends on whether visibility supports explanation, responsibility, correction, or action.
Read noteConcept
What makes a system contestable?
A system is contestable when people can understand what happened and reach a route with the authority and capability to address the specific problem.
Read noteConcept
Repair is part of public system design
Public systems need realistic ways to detect, explain, correct, or recover from failures, not only procedures for normal operation.
Read note