NetGov Lab faculty and doctoral students presented “Internet Governance Policy Research Impacts: Mapping, Methods and Messages” at the 46th Research Conference on Communications, Information, and Internet Policy (#TPRC46) hosted by American University's Washington College of Law (WCL) on September 22, 2018 from 2:00pm-3:30pm. Faculty Fellow Professor Fernando Laguarda serves as Chair of the TPRC Board. Under his leadership, #TPRC46 welcomed over 300 participants from across the country and around the world representing industry, academia, government, and civil society.
Faculty Directors Dr. Laura DeNardis, Dr. Derrick Cogburn, and Dr. Nanette Levinson were joined by Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Andrew Rens, Doctoral Researcher Fernanda Rosa, Global Scholar Dr. Francesca Musiani (virtual), and Associate Director Dr. Ken Merrill at the conference session.
Panel moderator Dr. Nanette Levinson opened the session by discussing how "definitions of internet governance continue to evolve" as do methods. Dr. Laura DeNardis expanded on the intersection of scholarship and policy in Internet governance. Dr. Derrick Cogburn highlighted a current research project on big data and text mining in cybersecurity and Internet governance research, while Dr. Francesca Musiani drew on science and technology studies to examine tech-related arrangements of power and to question whether decentralized infrastructure on the Internet was still possible as well as the possibility of pluralism. Additionally, Dr. Andrew Rens discussed the intersection of Internet governance and legal research during the panel.
Additionally, Faculty Fellow Professor Gwanhoo Lee, Kogod School of Business Professor, presented a paper on regulating the Internet of Things, and Doctoral Researcher Fernanda Rosa was one of the #TPRC46 student paper award winners.
Under Professor Laguarda’s leadership, #TPRC46 achieved tremendous success and new heights. The conference opened on September 20 with a session on Capitol Hill and a Graduate Student Consortium to mentor up-and-coming junior scholars. The following day, former acting Federal Trade Commission Chair Maureen Ohlhausen addressed conference attendees at lunch, and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Assistant Director for Artificial Intelligence Professor Jim Kurose addressed conference participants at dinner.
Now in its 46th year, TPRC began at the White House Office of Technology Policy in 1972 and moved two years later to Airlie House, now part of American University.
Future conference dates have been set for the next two years:
#TPRC47: Sept. 20-21, 2019
#TPRC48: Sept. 25-26, 2020