9.13.2022—Berkeley, CA

The Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP) and the CITRIS Policy Lab have launched a transformative Tech Policy Initiative to strengthen multidisciplinary scholarly collaborations, foster tech policy education and innovation, and inform effective tech-related policy strategies across the public and private sectors. 

“Our Tech Policy Initiative will leverage the immense intellectual resources of UC Berkeley as well as the powerful networks of both CITRIS and GSPP to ensure that public good, rigorous analysis, and justice are front and center in the ways we design, deploy, distribute, and govern technology in our ever-changing world,” said GSPP Dean David Wilson. 

Brandie Nonnecke, founding director of the CITRIS Policy Lab, will lead this impactful initiative at UC Berkeley.

“The Tech Policy Initiative meets a critical demand for data-driven, actionable research and training into the responsible development, use, and governance of emerging technologies,” said Nonnecke. “The CITRIS Policy Lab is honored to partner with GSPP on this important initiative to train the next generation of tech policy leaders.”

The Tech Policy Initiative benefits from the counsel of experts from industry, academia, and government. Melvin Greer, chief data scientist at Intel, has signed on as a senior advisor, along with John Gage, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Berkeley faculty advisors include Solomon Hsiang (director of the Global Policy Lab), former Arizona Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (director of the Center for Security in Politics), Costas Spanos (professor and director of CITRIS and the Banatao Institute), and Hany Farid (professor and expert on disinformation and the analysis of digital images). Other key advisors include Camille Crittenden, Executive Director, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute; Kiran Jain, former Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Oakland, technology start-up lawyer and climate investor and former board advisor for Kiva; Ziyang Fan, digital policy expert with experience in the private and public sectors in the U.S., China, and Southeast Asia and former legal counsel (Airbnb), tech start-up board advisor: and Yiaway Yeh, former Mayor for the City of Palo Alto and Co-Chief Innovation Officer for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

This initiative builds on years of collaboration between GSPP and CITRIS on emerging tech policy challenges such as artificial intelligence, digital inclusion, and data privacy. Their most recent collaboration, Our Better Web, brings together leadership from GSPP’s Center for Security in Politics; Berkeley Law; the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism; School of Information; and the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society to strengthen multidisciplinary research on responsible platform governance.

The long-term plan for the initiative includes expansion of GSPP’s degree programs, certificates, designated emphases, and experiential learning opportunities; partnerships with local, state and federal agencies to train global tech policy leaders; cross-cutting research programs to inform evidence-based strategies; and public-private collaborations to support responsible tech development, implementation, and governance. For more information, visit https://goldman.school/techpolicy 

About the Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP)

Founded in 1969, UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy embodies the intellectual rigor, entrepreneurial spirit, public mission, and commitment to the betterment of society that are the hallmarks of UC Berkeley. Consistently ranked among the top public policy schools in the country, GSPP provides a transformational academic and cultural experience that instills standards of excellence and a deep sense of pride in one’s work, learning community, peers, and academic home. GSPP faculty represent the top researchers in their respective fields, which include economics, political science, law, social psychology, and engineering. Current faculty include former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (currently U.S. Secretary of Energy), and former Secretary of Homeland Security and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. 

About the CITRIS Policy Lab

The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) creates information technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges. CITRIS leverages the research strengths of the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz, and operates within the greater ecosystem of the University and the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley. Founded in 2018, the CITRIS Policy Lab supports interdisciplinary research, education, and thought leadership to address core questions regarding the role of formal and informal regulation in promoting innovation and amplifying its positive effects on society.