# Martin Koltonowski

> Martin Koltonowski – IT nerd, entrepreneur and Freifunk community member. Understandable technology, responsibility, open infrastructure and participation.

koltonowski.de and koltonowski.com are private, non-commercial information and contact websites operated by Martin Koltonowski.

As an IT architect, I look at how things fit together — sometimes right down to the individual circuit in my workshop. “But it works” usually leaves me with more questions. So I read up, open things up, measure and experiment. I like open systems, good questions and solutions that give people more room to act.

## Profile and topics

- [Personal website](https://koltonowski.com/): I want to understand how technology works and how it affects us. I’m interested not just in devices and manufacturers, but also in the decisions behind them: Who gets a say? What dependencies are we creating? And what happens when something fails?
- [Topics](https://koltonowski.com/#werkbank): Who decides about technology, who benefits and who bears the consequences? My interest in digital policy goes beyond networks: power, participation and the long-term effects of technical decisions.
- [Freifunk and community](https://koltonowski.com/#freifunk): Openness, cooperation and decentralization are guiding principles for me. As a member of the Freifunk community, I’m interested in how shared knowledge becomes infrastructure that gives people room to act.
- [Approach](https://koltonowski.com/#haltung): For me, “autopilot off” means testing assumptions instead of accepting decisions simply because they are customary. Standards, automation and proven practices are valuable when we understand their purpose, limits and consequences.
- [Offline](https://koltonowski.com/#offline): Away from technology, social dancing is one of my personal interests. Attention, communication and cooperation matter just as much there.

## Book project

- [Autonomy Despite the System: Finding Your Bearings in an Age of Widespread Distrust](https://koltonowski.com/souveraen-trotz-system): Work in progress · no download available. What restores our ability to act when technology and social rules become opaque? My book project connects the technical and social questions of autonomy.

This summary is an editorial draft based on my project outline, not an excerpt from the manuscript. The book is still in progress; no publication date has been set.

The title and project description are translated here for English-speaking readers. This is not an announcement of an English edition of the book.

## Personal essays

- [Not having to do everything yourself, but being able to](https://koltonowski.com/staying-capable): Delegating tasks while keeping the ability to act when needed.
- [Building trust through scepticism](https://koltonowski.com/trust-through-scepticism): How understandable answers and verifiable commitments can help build trust.
- [Access is not an invitation](https://koltonowski.com/access-and-participation): What turns technical access into meaningful participation in open projects.

## Contact and events

- [Contact](https://koltonowski.com/#kontakt): For informed discussion, talks, panels and public-interest projects on open infrastructure, responsibility in technology and participation. Specific corrections and reasoned counterarguments are welcome, too.
- [For conversations and events](https://koltonowski.com/for-organisers): Topics, a personal introduction and guidance for a relevant enquiry.
- [IT-Nerds GmbH](https://it-nerds.eu/): The separate company website for consulting and commercial IT projects.

My time is limited. I don’t handle personal IT support, unsolicited product promotion, link exchanges or general sales pitches here. I can’t promise an individual reply or a particular response time.

## Optional

- [Legal notice](https://koltonowski.com/legal-notice): Operator and legal information.
- [Privacy notice](https://koltonowski.com/privacy): How this website processes personal data when you visit or get in touch.
- [Deutsche Übersicht](https://koltonowski.de/llms.txt): This overview in German.