Looking Towards A Future Where Software Is Controlled By The Public and Not The Other Way Round

International audienceNowadays, software has a ubiquitous presence in everyday life and this phenomenon gives rise to a range of challenges that affect both individuals and society as a whole. In this article we argue that in the future, the domain of software should no longer belong to technical experts and system integrators alone. Instead it should transition to a firmly engaged public domain, similar to city planning, social welfare and security. The challenge that lies at the heart of this problem is the ability to understand, on a technical level, what all the different software actually is and what it does with our information