In March, UC Berkeley’s School of Information and Goldman School of Public Policy announced the launch of the Executive Fellowship in Applied Technology Policy, a pioneering program bringing together leading experts in the fields of technology and public policy. At the end of April, eleven fellows traveled to UC Berkeley and the larger Bay Area, or participated virtually, to attend a week of meetings with key California policymakers, Berkeley faculty members, and research centers at the forefront of tech policy. Throughout their programming, the fellows were guided by the program’s Faculty Director and Professor at the School of Information, Deirdre Mulligan.
The fellows started their immersion week with an extended cohort-building session. Meeting together in the same hybrid space allowed the group to share their stories from past involvements in tech policy with each other and discuss plans for their research projects under the program. That meeting laid the groundwork for the Fellows’ subsequent work on crucial tech policy areas, which ranges from building a comprehensive dataset of AI governance efforts, to compiling a handbook of federal data types, to telling the stories of what it takes to lead organizations in delivering scientific and technological breakthroughs for the public good. “This was the first time I got to spend any significant time on the Berkeley campus, and I loved every minute of it,” said Merici Vinton, one of the fellows.
“Faculty and students were inspired by the fellows’ work and impact, and the fellows were impressed by the expertise and enthusiasm for public service across the Berkeley community. The immersion week kicked off conversations and research collaborations that will yield new insights and directions for improved tech policy.”
The fellows spent the rest of their first day getting further acquainted with the UC Berkeley community. The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology and the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity hosted the group for a moderated discussion with other University research centers focused on tech policy. Through the wide-ranging lenses of labor issues, industrial policy, export controls, and legal ramifications of technology development, the fellows got a sense of the campus’ interdisciplinary efforts to shape local, state, federal, and international technology policy. The day concluded with an opening Policy Innovation Dinner, attended by School of Information Dean Eric Meyer, multiple Berkeley faculty and students, and local civil society representatives.
The next day, the Fellows traveled to Sacramento to meet with California policymakers and legislators. The group was accompanied by UC Berkeley’s Director of Advocacy and Institutional Relations, Michelle Moskowitz, who prepared the day’s schedule for the group. After arrival in the capital city, the group headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, where they met with Lila Mirrashidi, the Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary, and Gina Da Silva, the Senior Advisor on Immigration. Afterwards, they stopped by the Offices of Senator Anna Caballero (D-Fresno), Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), and Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda).
The meetings facilitated a productive exchange between the fellows and California legislators and policymakers. State officials and lawmakers outlined their priorities for tech policy regulations, including ways to ensure responsible use of AI and other automated decision systems, measures to curb the spread of disinformation and harmful content on social media, and efforts to upgrade safeguards protecting Californians’ data. The fellows offered their thoughts on the current tech policy landscape at the federal level, and Mulligan and Moskowitz noted the group and the University’s value in providing non-partisan, impartial feedback and technical expertise to the state’s tech regulatory efforts.
One of the fellows, Charlotte Burrows, a former Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testified that day in the Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on Assembly Bill 1018 and in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on Senate Bill 7. Both bills seek to regulate the use of automated decision support systems in critical processes, including employment, and both were passed by their respective committees that day.
“It was an incredible experience to testify before the California legislature about civil rights issues that can arise from the use of AI in employment, and I was honored to meet some of the many workers concerned about this issue,” Burrows said.
At the end of their packed visit, the fellows participated in a happy hour reception, joined by Senator McNerney, legislative staffers, key civil society representatives, and Sacramento stakeholders.
On their last day, the fellows returned to UC Berkeley. First, they attended a meeting of the Algorithmic Fairness and Opacity Working Group (AFOG) to discuss the current state of the campus’s efforts to research bias introduced into AI models through their creation and training.
In a lunch session with students from the School of Information (I School), Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP), and Berkeley Law, the fellows shared their expertise, outlined skills that empowered their respective career paths, and heard from the students about their current interests and academic pursuits.
“The entrepreneurial energy, realism, and optimism coming from the brilliant students and faculty were contagious.”
The fellows then met with the I School and GSPP faculty and wrapped up their official programming on campus with a reception held in celebration of the closing of their week. On their last evening in Berkeley, the fellows attended a closing dinner with deans Eric Meyer, David Wilson of the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Jennifer Chayes of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society.
“Faculty and students were inspired by the fellows’ work and impact, and the fellows were impressed by the expertise and enthusiasm for public service across the Berkeley community,” said Prof. Mulligan. “The immersion week kicked off conversations and research collaborations that will yield new insights and directions for improved tech policy.”
“The entrepreneurial energy, realism, and optimism coming from the brilliant students and faculty were contagious,” added Vinton.
The inaugural cohort of Executive Fellows in Applied Technology Policy includes accomplished public sector technology policy leaders. Learn more about the fellows at our UC Berkeley Executive Fellowship in Applied Technology Policy program webpage.
