Signal Architect. Civic Technologist. Urban Planner. Journalist. Humanitarian.
Justin Auciello
Information is infrastructure. Trust is architecture. Tone is engineering.As a Signal Architect, I build public information systems that people can rely on to stay oriented, connected, and safe. They steady communities through breakdown and help them thrive in stability.My work lives at the intersection of urban planning, journalism, crisis response, and humanitarian strategy. It’s grounded in formal training in city and regional planning, combined with field-proven expertise in trauma-aware communication and humanitarian logistics.
It blends empathy with systems thinking to rebuild—and expand—public trust, one signal at a time.It’s how I’ve always worked.
Now, I’m defining the field: Signal Architecture.Back in 2009, I wrote that the collapse of journalism wasn’t just a business crisis, but a breakdown of civic infrastructure. Ordinary people needed to step in and help hold it up. That systems lens shaped everything that came next.In 2011, I launched Jersey Shore Hurricane News (JSHN), a social-first, real-time civic signal system. Built from scratch, it became an emergency dispatch platform during Superstorm Sandy when 911 failed and earned White House recognition as a Champion of Change. But it also served the community just as well during calm.While living in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, I lost power, water, and communication. Amid institutional failure and daily survival, I stayed and helped create, alongside Internews and NetHope, Información Como Ayuda, a humanitarian signal network that reached over a million people when official systems failed or fell silent. We oriented people with trusted, actionable information and built real-time feedback loops that closed the gap between community needs, aid providers, and local governments. It wasn’t theory. It was necessity.Then I worked globally with Internews, helping vulnerable communities across Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa map how information moves and build responsive, trust-based systems that keep people informed, connected, and safer.The systems kept evolving. So did the model.Today, through my book in progress, Signal as Infrastructure, I’m codifying the emerging discipline of Signal Architecture: a blueprint for designing resilient, participatory public information systems that hold up under pressure and make civic life stronger every day.When trust fails, everything else follows.Let’s build what comes next.