Sustainable Infrastructure for Local Talent (SILT)

SILT is a shared management commons for independent researchers. We envision a thriving independent research and learning ecosystem outside of, alongside, and in between universities and corporations. As researchers exit traditional systems and pursue independent financing, they require basic legal and financial support. But the university and corporations that previously housed them offered more than just legal and financial infrastructure; they also offered meaningful social infrastructure. We ask: what will institutions look like in the future? What alternative structures can we build today? At SILT, independent researchers, teachers, and innovators contribute to and benefit from a shared operational commons. This distributed, operational home for independent teaching and learning stewards shared legal, financial, and IT infrastructure. Members benefit from reduced costs, confidentiality, and a network of aligned practitioners.