McCourt School of Public Policy
McCourt School of Public Policy

Our Work

The Tech & Public Policy program brings leaders in technology and policy together to identify and build innovative solutions to the pressing problems presented by current and future technologies and their applications.  

Our programs dive deep into the questions surrounding the role of policy in creating technology that works for the common good and that protects values like democracy, freedom and autonomy. Projects include:

AI Policy Lab

The AI Policy Lab (AIPL) was launched in the summer of 2023 to craft concrete, actionable recommendations for Executive Branch officials, Members of Congress and staff. The Labs convene a small, curated group of experts on a rotating set of AI-related topics to drill down into practical policy guidance that have a real path to implementation.

AIPL + 1: The Tech & Public Policy program (TPP) worked in partnership with The Future US on AI and election security. After convening election security experts and high level policymakers, we developed a set of actionable policy recommendations aimed at DHS, CISA, DOJ/FBI then briefed the agencies. We also developed a mock PSA to highlight the issue of deep fake audio. Led by the former Secretary of State for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Center for Democracy & Technology, AIPL + 1 is now a robust coalition on election security that meets regularly to share information and advocacy.

AIPL + 2: TPP worked in partnership with Public Citizen on AI and financial responsibility. The session assembled a diverse group of professionals: AI and machine learning technologists, former government officials, think tank and civil society leaders, leading academics, investment bankers and finance experts, to drill into the impacts of AI on modern financial systems, tools and individuals. Next, AIPL + 2 aims to build an AI model for financial compliance with students in the McCourt School’s DSPP program, in a unique partnership with financial regulators and financial institutions.

Me/We Research Collaboration

Researcher access to social media data is critical for effective, evidence-based policymaking. MeWe and Georgetown University embarked on a collaboration aimed at accelerating and deepening new advancements in social media research and creating positive impact on policy. MeWe is allowing access to permissioned user data to a select group of Georgetown researchers. Georgetown researchers will conduct research on the platform, and will publish and brief policy makers on relevant findings.  

Ideathon

Ideathon is an incubator for novel approaches to policymaking, rooted in the theory that tech policy must fundamentally shift to a more agile model, reflective of digital product design, in order to be responsive to modern technology. The project adopts design principles from digital products in the start-up world – such as being focused on the user, working in quick “sprints,” brainstorming, storyboarding and iteration, to create an environment that allows for tech policy learning and innovative solution development. Graduate students from law and policy, computer and data science, marketing and design and other disciplines are paired with experienced policy practitioners, academic mentors and students at other international universities from diverse backgrounds and experiences to collaborate on a tech policy challenge. 

Ideathon 2023: In 2023, Ideathon was convened in Paris in partnership with SciencesPo.
Problem: emojis, often used for hate speech, to traffic drugs and people, evade content moderation systems.

Solution: The Ideathon team created Project Emoji, which created the idea of a shared emoji dictionary, a plugin to allow for shared context and education via collaboration with Unicode and Emojipedia, and cross-platform cooperation to build standards.

Ideathon 2024:  In 2024, Ideathon was convened in Singapore in partnership with Nanyang University and the government of Singapore.

Problem:  The aging population in Singapore is disproportionately victim to financial fraud on Facebook. Students used a scenario in which there is a rogue generative AI that is scooping up user data to create and spread  personalized, targeted financial scam content.

“Shaping the Digital Future”

Senior officials from the Ukrainian government traveled to McCourt to gain expertise in areas such as innovation in the public sector, AI in government processes and effectively using data to allocate resources.