#igfusa_disrupt
#igfusa
Since the birth of the Internet, we have heard about the amazing benefits of the new services that the Internet will provide, and indeed social media, e-commerce, even online dating have changed the way billions of people live, work, and play. But a growing number of critics are asking whether the digital society is giving us too much data and too many distractions and if its costs outweigh its benefits. For example, is it possible that too much innovation can be a bad thing? Is the Internet contradictory—does it both increase and decrease productivity? How can Internet users sort the useful apps from the useless ones? How can we better manage our most valuable assets, our time and attention? Can we make the Internet and information technology easier to use and manage? Will growing dissatisfaction with the Internet mean that politicians (and the constituents who vote for them) will be less likely to support legislation and regulation to spur the development and use of the Internet?
Organizer and Moderator
Michael R. Nelson (@mikenelson) works on Internet-related global public policy issues for CloudFlare, a startup that has improved the performance and security of more than 2 million Web sites worldwide. Prior to joining CloudFlare early this year, he was a Principal Technology Policy Strategist in Microsoft’s Technology Policy Group and before that a Senior Technology and Telecommunications Analyst at Bloomberg Government. In addition, since January, 2009, Dr. Nelson has been teaching courses and doing research on the future of the Internet and cyber-policy at Georgetown University. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Nelson worked for almost ten years at IBM. He started his career in Washington, DC, working for Senator Gore, then chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space. After five years on Capitol Hill, he moved to the White House and worked with Vice President Gore and President Clinton’s science adviser on issues relating to telecommunications policy, cybersecurity, encryption, electronic commerce, and information policy. Dr. Nelson has a B.S. from Caltech and a Ph.D. from MIT.
Panelists
Dr. Meg Leta (Ambrose) Jones (@MegLeta) is an assistant professor in Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture, and Technology department where she researches and teaches in the areas of technology law and policy. Her research interests cover a wide range of technology policy issues including comparative censorship and privacy law, engineering and information ethics, legal history of technology, robotics law and policy, and the governance of emerging technologies. She received her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Illinois and her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Engineering & Applied Science, Technology, Media & Society. Her current book project, Ctrl+Z: The Right to be Forgotten, analyzes social, legal, and technical issues surrounding digital oblivion (forthcoming, NYU Press).
Alan McQuinn (@AlanMcQuinn) is a Research Assistant with the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. His research areas include a variety of issues related to information technology and Internet policy, such as cybersecurity, privacy, virtual currencies, e-government, Internet governance, and commercial drones. Prior to joining ITIF he was a telecommunications fellow for Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, an honorary co-chair of ITIF. Alan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Public Relations and Political Communications, and a Minor in Mandarin Chinese. He spent his final semester at UT as a participant in the Bill Archer Fellowship Program. During his time as an Archer Fellow, he interned for the Federal Communications Commission in the Office of Legislative Affairs. Before that, he interned for the City of Austin Public Information Office, where he worked on major city projects related to e-government, transparency, and the rollout of Google Fiber Austin.
Lee Rainie (@lrainie) is the director of Internet, Science, and Technology research at the Pew Research Center. He gives several dozen speeches a year to government officials, media leaders, scholars and students, technology executives, librarians, and non-profit groups about the changing media ecosystem. He is also regularly interviewed by major news organizations about technology trends. He is a co-author of Networked: The New Social Operating System and five books about the future of the Internet that are drawn from the center’s research. Prior to joining Pew Research, he was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard University and has a master’s degree in political science from Long Island University. He blogs at http://networked.pewinternet.org/blog/
Customer X is a leading expert on why people do not adopt the Internet. He has studied “the unconnected” for the Federal Communications Commission, the Pew Research Center, and other organizations. For today’s panel, he is playing the role of a typical, frustrated “laggard” who isn’t excited about the Internet, who is confused by the latest apps, and is more than a bit fearful about how the Internet might affect their job, their family, and their life.