From ancient scribes to nineteenth century newspaper editors, every era of communications technology has empowered a select few with the ability to control how information impacts the public. On the surface, the rise of the digital economy empowers all people with the ability to share and publish information, but it is not an era without gatekeepers. The new literacy is code literacy: the ability to craft the UX and algorithms that determine what you see in your news feed and what you find in your search engine results. Even for those who never intend to become engineers, baseline computer science knowledge is becoming increasingly important for understanding the world around us. 

• What opportunities exist to expand K-12 code literacy programs?

• What are the dangers if we fail?

• What are examples of progress in this area?

• In what ways do computer programmers intentionally or unintentionally impact the world?

• How can code literate citizens improve our democratic institutions?

• What are the changing roles and responsibilities of citizenship?

• What role does the “civic startup” community have in improving our nation’s political and governing institutions?