Gautam Hans: The Role of Innovators and Startups in Crafting Information Policy

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 16:00 to 17:30
Location: 
EM 108 Toronto, Ontario Canada

Center for Democracy

As legislators and policymakers debate information policy issues such as privacy, intellectual property, free expression, and surveillance, innovators – especially startups and entrepreneurs – have an increasingly powerful role to play in setting domestic and international regulations. How and why have policymakers responded to the concerns of innovators in proposing specific laws and regulations? What are the most effective ways for innovators to get involved in the policymaking process? Can governments and transnational bodies effectively incorporate the concerns of innovators into their policy agendas, or is the innovation lifecycle too fast to allow for the enactment of effective regulation? Drawing on recent examples from the United States, Europe, and in the transnational context, we’ll discuss some of these questions in analyzing how innovators and policymakers interact.
Gautam Hans is the 2012-2014 Ron Plesser Fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a non-profit public policy organization headquartered in Washington, DC that works to keep the Internet open, innovative, and free. At CDT, his work focuses on consumer privacy issues, including mobile technology, data collection and retention, government regulation and enforcement, and international issues. In 2012, Mr. Hans earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and his M.S. in Information from the University of Michigan School of Information. In 2006, Mr. Hans earned his B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University.