Host organizations
Please note: Additional organizations may be added to the program prior to the application deadline. Please check back for additional updates.
Africa
- Association for Progressive Communications
- CIPIT, Strathmore University
- Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in IT
- Research ICT Africa
Europe
- Bruegel
- ECIPE (European Centre for International Political Economy)
- OpenForum Europe (OFE)
- The Lisbon Council
Latin America
North America
- American Library Association
- Center for Democracy and Technology
- Competitive Enterprise Institute
- Creative Commons
- EFF
- Future of Music Coalition
- Institute for Public Representation
- Internet Education Foundation
- Joint Center for Political And Economic Studies
- Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- National Consumers League
- National Hispanic Media Coalition
- New America Foundation
- Public Knowledge
- Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic
- TechFreedom
- Technology Policy Institute
- The Citizen Lab
- US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Africa
Association for Progressive Communications
Fellowship location: Johannesburg, South Africa
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is a global network of civil society organisations whose mission is to empower and support organisations, social movements and individuals in and through the use of information and communication technologies to build strategic communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes and environmental sustainability. Founded in 1990, our vision is to see people having easy and affordable access to a free and open internet to improve their lives and create a more just world.
The fellow will work in APC's communications and information policy programme (CIPP) in Africa. During 2013-16 the programme will focus on advocating for affordable access, particularly through calling for innovative approaches to spectrum use and management, and for the protection of fundamental human rights on the internet. The two areas where we believe our efforts can make a concrete difference in the next two years are: innovative approaches to spectrum use and management as a means of extending affordable access, and, securing and defending fundamental human rights on the internet.
Fellowship focus areas
The fellow will focus on the ‘securing and defending fundamental human rights on the internet’ area.
- Researching the state of legislation and regulation with regards to intermediary liability in Africa.
- Researching existing safe harbour regimes in Africa under common law, legislation or regulation and investigating, and assessing the need for regulation
- Assessing the effects of intermediary liability regimes on economic activity, freedom of expression and freedom of association, and education and the right to knowledge
- Assessing intermediary liability specifically with regards to the following focus
areas:
- defamation and libel
- political messages and hate speech
- freedom of expression and association
- copyright regimes, paying attention to enforcement, and copyright exceptions and fair dealing for developing countries
- takedown procedures
- Identifying threats to economic activity, freedom of expression and freedom of association, and education and the right to knowledge posed by intermediary liability
- Stimulating policy and regulatory discussions on intermediary liability Recommendations for legislative and regulatory reform on intermediary liability
CIPIT, Strathmore University
Fellowship location: Nairobi, Kenya
Strathmore University is a private university in Nairobi, Kenya. The Google Policy Fellow will work at the Center for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), a research center at the Strathmore Law School.
Kenya is rapidly moving toward a knowledge-based economy. The primary goal of CIPIT is to help develop an infrastructure of IP professionals and resources that enable Kenyans to effectively use IP protection mechanisms worldwide. This involves training IP professionals, advocating for effective IP policies in government and the private sector, and increasing the general awareness of IP issues. Our activities are guided by our commitment to conducting unbiased and targeted research.
Fellowship focus areas
- Research the development and effectiveness of ICT laws and policies in Kenya, particularly focusing on whether such laws effectively account for Intellectual Property issues.
- Compare the ICT laws and policies of Kenya against those of other developing economies, again focusing on the intersection of IP and ICT.
- Review the IP policies of established universities and government entities to determine whether Kenyan organizations are aware of IP issues and are effectively accounting for IP assets.
Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in IT
Fellowship location: Accra, Ghana
The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE)is Ghana's first Advanced Information Technology Institute. Founded in 2003, AITI-KACE has grown to be a force in delivery of high quality training and the promotion of open source and related activities in the West African sub-region and Africa as whole. The Centre has formed strong relationships with Civil society and Government institutions which work in the areas of advocacy, public policy and ICT. AITI-KACE is unique in the quality of staff commitment with respect to research in the areas mentioned below. Fellows will work closely with faculty and other stakeholders to clarifying issues and a way forward for implementation of modern dimensions of intellectual property law in the areas mentioned below and this is expected to make a meaningful contribution to the development of Ghana and the West Africa subregion.
Fellowship focus areas
- Creative Commons: Recently there have been a lot of discussions around content creation, access to public information and open government data. Fellow will work with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies to design a framework based on creative commons to protect public data and information while encouraging open access.
- Access to Public Information: Access to public information remains a key requirement to the sustainability of the gains made in Ghana's democratic development. The fellow will prepare a study exploring the Legal IT issues that may arise should the Right to Information bill be passed by the Parliament of Ghana.
- OSS adoption Framework: Great potential and benefit waits government in adopting open source solutions in the public service. The fellow will explore legal implications of open source implementation reviewing the procurement law.
Research ICT Africa
Fellowship location: Cape Town, South Africa
Research ICT Africa (RIA) is an ICT policy and regulatory think think based in Cape Town, South Africa, that fills a strategic gap in the development of a sustainable information society and network knowledge economy by building the ICT policy and regulatory research capacity needed to inform effective ICT governance in Africa. It host a 20 country research network extending across the continent. Further, it operates through national, regional and continental partnerships.
The establishment of the RIA network emanates from the growing demand for data and analysis necessary for the appropriate and visionary policy required to catapult continent into the information age. Through rigorous resarch and analysis RIA seeks to build an African knowledge base in support of effective ICT policy and regulation, and to monitor and review developments on the continent.
The research arising from a public interest agenda is made available in the public domain, and individuals and entities from public and private sector and civil society are encouraged to use it for teaching, further research or to enable them to participate more effectively in national, regional and global ICT policy formulation and governance. On the basis of this research and extensive practical policy and regulatory experience RIA offers regulatory executive training and post graduate education through the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Management of Infrastructures Reform and Regulation (MIR) Programme and technical assistance to sector institutions.
Fellowship focus areas
- Analysis of ICT access and usage issues, including gender, health, mobile money, base of the pyramid data set and review of past methodology for the purposes of new household andindividual user survey in 2014. (Requirements: High level: PhD in statistics or economics with experience in statistical analysis to model data. Entry level: Honours in Statistics/Economics, primarily involved in running data but opportunity to work on modelling).
- Cost of communication study: ( Requirements High level: PhD in Finance/Economics or experience in economic regulation or costing to assist with analysis of prices, development of indices, analysis of operator performances. Entry level: Assit with the development of pricing portal and analysis of results.)
- Global governance of communications, focusing on Internet governance. (Political economy specialisation or experience in Internet Governance Forum to conduct institutional analysis of ICANN, ITU, WTO to better understand implications of Internet regulation/freedom.
- Internet Freedom contribute to development of what constitutional, administrative justice, policy formulation processes and legal frameworks should be in place to safeguard internet freedom (blueprint). (Legal expertise in human rights, freedom of expression, privacy, surveillance.
- Informational development: explore the institutional, cultural (identity) technological dimensions of development in the information age (requires multidiciplinary skills set to provide grounded analysis of role of information in human development in this era and of human development in economic growth and innovation.)
Europe
Bruegel
Fellowship location: Brussels, Belgium
Bruegel is a non-doctrinal and independent think-tank that provides evidence-based analysis and policy recommendations to improve the quality of economic policymaking. Active in Brussels since 2005, its research activities address both European and global topics. Bruegel draws its unique nature from a balanced partnership between private and public stakeholders. Its member base is currently composed of EU member states, international corporations and international institutions. Its day-to-day work is carried out at arm‘s length from members’ interests. The independence, professional integrity and objectivity of Bruegel’s research are among its principal assets. Its research conclusions are independent from its members and its scholars don’t hold a predefined or institutional stance; they make independent fact-based recommendations.
Bruegel is governed by a board of 11 individuals with backgrounds in government, business, academia and civil society. The Board appoints the Director and has decision-making powers on Bruegel’s strategy, research programme, partnerships and budget, but no responsibility for research conclusions and publications.
Since starting operations in 2005, Bruegel has released more than a hundred publications covering research areas including: budgetary and monetary policies; climate change and energy; European and global governance; currencies and international finance; intellectual property and innovation; competition and EU enlargement.
Bruegel 2012 Research Programme focuses on the following four areas in which Bruegel is building expertise and reputation:
- European macroeconomics
- Global economics and global governance
- Finance and financial regulation
- Competition, innovation and Sustainable Growth.
Fellowship focus areas
- Policies for innovation in Europe: Bruegel intends to sustain its focus on new innovation-based markets and firms and their constraints, most notably the financing of new, innovative high growth companies, and on a discussion of the role of policy to create the framework conditions for innovation based growth, such as competition policy and IPR systems.
- ICT for growth: In its EU2020 strategy, the European Union set out an ambitious mission to make information and communication technologies the driving force of a more innovative, competitive, connected, inclusive and greener EU economy, with the Single Digital Market as one of its cornerstone policy instruments to achieve this ambition. With the evidence from the past where ICT is largely responsible for the EU’s lagging growth performance relative to the United States, one can wonder how realistic the policy ambitions are framed in the EU2020 flagship: the Single Digital Market. Bruegel intends to continue examining how strong the ICT-growth nexus can be for Europe in the near future and what policies need to be in place to ensure such a nexus.
- The future of manufacturing: The future of Industry in Europe faces many challenges, with globalization as one of the top challenges, particularly in the form of competition in and from emerging markets. Other important challenges are rising material and energy costs and regulatory inconsistencies and competition, including in the environmental area. Production activities are offshored, in search for lower operating costs, but also increasingly activities higher up in the value chain, including R&D are offshored to emerging markets. The main aim of Bruegel’s research in this area is to have a more evidence based policy discussion on the future of industry in Europe in the coming decade and the design of a new industrial policy.
ECIPE (European Centre for International Political Economy)
Fellowship location: Brussels, Belgium
The European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) is a Brussels-based think tank whose research focuses on EU and international trade policy, the global economy, the rise of China and East Asia, development issues, and the digital economy. As public policy has become increasingly concerned with digital issues, so has our interest in analyzing and evaluating the impact of cyber policy on the virtual world. In recent years, ECIPE has expanded its research activities in this area -focusing on the intersection between trade and the digital economy. In the recent past, we have published on WTO information Technology Agreement, ACTA, the International Telecommunication Union binding rules renegotiations, cyber security policy and various other digital issues.
ECIPE is rooted in the liberal tradition; we advocate for free trade and the progressive reduction of barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital and people across borders. ECIPE has a distinguished network of non-residential Fellows and Senior Fellows, who conduct policy research and publish papers, briefs and books. We cooperate with other centers and institutions in and outside of Europe, and we aim to raise public awareness and understanding of complex economic issues so as to improve the quality of public policy.
Fellowship focus areas
We are looking for candidates who hold a Bachelor or Master’s degree in economics (international economics/trade economics), international political economy, trade law, or European studies. Our fellows should hold a keen interest in digital economy issues or/and Internet and trade law. The awareness of current Internet and digital policies in Europe and internationally is also an advantage. Fellows should have excellent writing skills and be fluent in English. For non-economist applicants: basic knowledge of economics and good numerical skills, including MS Excel is necessary. We are particularly interested in candidates with an excellent academic record who have a strong interest in pursuing a future career in academia, journalism, or policy making. Fellows will participate in all of ECIPE's work and will undergo a training program that is designed after their future career interests. Fellows support ECIPE scholars with research and administrative assistance and participate in an ongoing research projects.OpenForum Europe (OFE)
Fellowship location: Brussels, Belgium
http://www.openforumeurope.org
http://www.openforumacademy.org
OpenForum Europe (OFE) is an independent, not-for-profit industry organization which promotes the use of Open Standards in ICT as a means of achieving full openness and interoperability of systems throughout Europe. It continues to promote open source software, as well as openness more generally, as part of a vision to facilitate open competitive choice for IT users. OFE is supported by major IT suppliers, user and consumer organisations, and national partners, together representing tens of thousand individual companies across Europe. Within OFE, OpenForum Academy (OFA) is an independent programme established by OpenForum Europe to link academia, business and policy experts in order to provide new input and insight into issues that impact the openness of the IT market. Central to the operation of OpenForum Academy are the Fellows, each selected as exceptional individual contributors to the field of openness. A number of academic organisations have agreed to work with OFA, both through the Fellows and via the broader network of contributors that support OFE in the development of research initiatives.
Fellowship focus areas
- Open innovation : Assessing the incentives and economic impact of policies promoting open and collaborative innovation. This includes open source software, open standards, and more recent topics such as open access in the context of public data and scientific research.
- Cloud Computing : Research around key aspects of cloud computing, including but not limited to the use of open source software and open standards in cloud services, data portability across cloud offerings, applicable law over data stored in cloud, interoperability and cloud federation.
- Public procurement : Analyzing the role of public authorities procurement in shaping a fair, competitive and efficient IT market where all participants, whether actively promoting openness or not, have equal access to opportunity.
- The Google Policy Fellow at OpenForum Academy will be working under the joint supervision of OFA's Fellowship Coordinator and a research fellow agreed upon according to the research topic.
The Lisbon Council
Fellowship location: Brussels, Belgium
The Lisbon Council is a Brussels-based think tank and policy network. Established in 2003 in Belgium as a non-profit, non-partisan association, the group is dedicated to making a positive contribution through cutting-edge research and by engaging politicians and the public at large in a constructive exchange about the economic and social challenges of the 21st Century.
Fellowship focus areas
We can consider adjusting these depending on the fellow’s interest, expertise or background.- Research and prepare a series of policy papers on big data – the economics, the potential, the regulatory challenges. The papers will be for purposes of internal circulation and issue mapping. If successful, the papers could help inform an Autumn 2013 conference or other Lisbon Council work programme-related events
- Help senior managers and researchers keep abreast of recent developments in the new economy. Follow the latest literature and write briefs for internal Lisbon Council distribution on key issues.
- Provide assistance in high-level events and roundtables that accompany the various research programmes.
- The candidate should have basic knowledge of the European Union (or at a minimum an interest in EU affairs).
- The ideal start date would be in May 2013.
Latin America
Asociación por los Derechos Civiles
Fellowship location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (Association for Civil Rights - ADC) is a prominent Buenos Aires-based, independent, non-partisan NGO working to guarantee the respect for civil and human rights in Argentina and Latin America. Founded in 1995 by a group of lawyers, ADC works in the fields of freedom of expression and access to public information, due process of law, non-discrimination, pre-trial detention and prison conditions, gender rights and economic, social and cultural rights.
ADC engages in public interest litigations, monitors public policies and institutions, proposes and advocates for legal and institutional reforms and strengthens the capacities of civil society by creating networks and exchanging know how with other organizations in the country and the region. ADC has also been actively working within the Inter-American system of human rights.
Fellowship focus areas
Our fellows will engage doing research, writing and carrying out legal and policy analysis under the supervision of our Freedom of Expression Director or the Access to Public Information Director. They will be able to work in a varied range of areas, including:- Freedom of expression online
- Net neutrality
- Privacy and data management
- Cybercrime
Derechos Digitales
Fellowship location: Santiago, Chile
http://www.derechosdigitales.org
ONG Derechos Digitales is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization, which mission is to defense and promote human rights in the digital environment. Its main working topics include Freedom of Expression, Access to Knowledge, Transparency and Democracy, Privacy and Personal Data Protection, and Consumer Protection.
Fellowship focus areas
- Cybercrime and digital due process. In the last years, cybercrime regulation has been one of the most important regulatory issues related to human rights on the digital environment. Privacy and due process implications are one of the most problematic limits this regulation has. Objective: to prepare a comparative analysis with special focus in the US, about how cybercrime regulation affects international principles related to due process of law.
- U.S. guidelines on freedom of speech, privacy and/or copyright. Freedom of speech, privacy and copyright have been our most important field of work on the last years, because of its importance as human rights and tech regulation and because they clearly show the regulatory tension between human rights and technology practices. Objective: To prepare a guide of US jurisprudence and practices related to freedom of speech, privacy and / or copyright on hot regulatory topics in Latin America and to help develop a future regulatory guide on cyberlaw and fundamental rights.
- Digital agenda and public policies on digital issues in Chile. Several countries around the world are preparing strategy documents on public policies and development related to technology regulation. Some of them are related to overcome digital divide, others to using government position to improve the lives of citizens from a human rights perspective. Objective: to prepare a comparative policy brief about public policies on digital development and policies in the region, with special focus on fundamental rights and government engagement.
North America
American Library Association
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit educational organization of about 58,000 librarians, library trustees, and other friends of libraries dedicated to improving library services and promoting the public interest in a free and open information society.
The Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) advances ALA’s public policy activities by helping secure information technology policies that support and encourage efforts of libraries to ensure access to electronic information resources as a means of upholding the public’s right to a free and open information society. It works to ensure a library voice in information policy debates and to promote full and equitable intellectual participation by the public by conducting research & analysis, educating the ALA community, advocating ALA’s information policy interests, and engaging in strategic outlook.
Fellowship focus areas
OITP is organized into three substantive programs, to which the Google Policy Fellow would make contributions:- Program on Public Access to Information: Includes our diverse portfolio on digital content that includes international advocacy at WIPO, digital copyright and licensing, e-books, E- government issues, digital archiving and preservation, mass digitization, open access, and other topics related to how the public accesses information in a digital society. The technological, economic, sociological, and policy issues surrounding e-books and the public interest is a major focus in 2013, including examination of e-publishing ecosystem.
- Program on Networks: Two core issues are library connectivity (how to improve broadband access to libraries, especially those in rural or low income areas) and universal service (in particular, the E-rate program that provides significant funding for telecommunications services in libraries). This program covers the large diversity of policy issues related to networks and libraries such as network neutrality, USF reform, building out the broadband infrastructure, cloud computing, and privacy.
- Program on the Future of Libraries: Investigates the implications of the increasing influence of digital information, networks, and the Web on the role and functions of libraries of all types. Explores role of libraries and the public interest in the information ecosystem.
Center for Democracy and Technology
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization working to keep the Internet open, innovative, and free. As a civil liberties group with expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT works to enhance free expression and privacy in communications technologies by finding practical and innovative solutions to public policy challenges while protecting civil liberties. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow will work closely with the CDT attorneys, technologists, and policy experts on one or more issues related to technology and civil liberties, according to the Fellow's interest and experience. Possible areas of focus include:- Free Expression: Protecting free expression from censorship, and championing the right of individuals to communicate, publish, and obtain information.
- Consumer Privacy: Developing policy solutions and technology tools so Internet users can take control of their personal information and data online.
- Security & Freedom: Advocating for stronger legal protections from government intrusion and challenging law enforcement demands for network surveillance.
- Digital Copyright: Working to protect the balance between the interests of copyright holders and the public.
- Health Privacy: Ensuring that privacy protections are extended to personally identifiable health information.
- Global Internet Policy & Human Rights: Working to promote democratic values and human rights in the global online medium.
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization dedicated to promoting consumer welfare by empowering individuals to make their own choices in a free market.
Founded in 1984, CEI has grown into a powerful advocate for individual freedom on a wide range of policy issues, including energy, finance, technology, telecommunications, and health care. Unique among market-oriented public interest groups, we pursue a full-service approach to advancing public policy. We publish scholarly studies exploring the key issues of the day, but we also craft media advocacy campaigns around our research in order to reach policy makers, opinion leaders, and activists. CEI analysts produce timely commentaries for major news outlets and frequently appear on television and radio programs. From time to time, we also pursue our pro-freedom advocacy in court.
The Google Policy Fellow will work closely with CEI scholars to research and promote innovative, pro-consumer solutions to the public policy challenges of the information age. Fellows will have the opportunity to author position papers, publish opinion essays, and contribute to CEI’s blogs. Fellows will be invited to attend coalition meetings, aid in the drafting of regulatory filings, and participate in seminars and roundtable discussions.
Fellowship focus areas
- Digital Privacy: Strengthening privacy online is crucial, but ill-conceived proposals to regulate information sharing threaten to undercut the considerable consumer benefits of greater personalization, individualized marketing, and advertising-supported content. Fellows will explore privacy competition and how it is evolving as the public grows more cognizant of privacy risks. Fellows will also research the legal protections that safeguard individuals and firms from unwarranted governmental access to sensitive information stored in the cloud.
- Competition Policy: Pro-competitive market arrangements in the technology sector are increasingly at risk of being derailed by overly aggressive government competition authorities. Antitrust intervention tends to harm consumers and thwart the evolution of the market, especially in innovation-intensive sectors. CEI works to bring modern economic ideas to the competition policy discussion while emphasizing the dynamic, contestable nature of information and technology markets. Fellows will analyze the consumer welfare implications of antitrust enforcement and explore public policies that promote competition and innovation, rather than destructive rent-seeking by innovation-challenged firms.
- Telecommunications Regulation: In the fields of wireless and wired broadband, CEI promotes policies that encourage infrastructure wealth creation within a context of property rights and facilities-based competition. Fellows will analyze policies that foster network investment and analyze strategies for improving the efficiency of spectrum allocation.
- Intellectual Property: Copyright and patent laws exist to promote social welfare, but too often these laws fail to strike a sensible balance between innovation and the protection of ideas. Fellows will explore the legal and economic implications of existing copyright and patent statutes and examine ways in which these laws could be reformed to better encourage innovation.
Creative Commons
Fellowship location: Mountain View, USA
http://www.creativecommons.org
Creative Commons is a global nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. We provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof.
Fellowship focus areas
We are looking for motivated candidates with partially-developed ideas in exploring a particular interest/expertise area, short research project, or related activity within the broad spectrum of open licensing and the commons. We are particularly interested in working with fellows interested in supporting education and advocacy efforts around open policies so that publicly funded resources are openly licensed resources. One specific project we are looking for assistance on is the development of an Open Policy Network (See http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Open_Policy_Network for more information). We are very flexible in accommodating project ideas that will be mutually beneficial to the candidate and CC. The project work with CC will not be supervised by an attorney.EFF
Fellowship location: San Francisco, USA
The Google Policy Fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation will be supervised by the EFF International Rights Director.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit group of lawyers, policy analysts, technologists, and activists working to protect freedom of expression, civil liberties, digital consumer rights and innovation in the online world. Founded in 1990, EFF brings and defends lawsuits, engages in online advocacy campaigns, and works to educate U.S. and international policymakers, the media, and citizens.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow will work closely with mentors in the EFF international policy team. We are looking for someone who shares our passion for the free and open Internet, digital civil liberties, privacy, and consumer rights; has strong research skills; can produce thoughtful original policy analysis; and has demonstrated the ability to communicate with different types of audiences.- International Freedom of Expression: EFF defends the Internet as a platform for free expression and believes that when you go online, your rights should come with you. Every day we monitor, investigate, mobilize, and defend against threats to the free and open Internet in countries across the world. We are strong advocates of corporate social responsibility, and monitor companies who sell technologies customized to surveil and violate human rights to repressive regimes.
- International Surveillance and Human Rights: New technologies are radically advancing our freedoms, but they are also enabling unparalleled invasions of privacy. The Google Policy Fellow will undertake research on international human rights case law and its application to electronic surveillance, in light of the increase in government communications surveillance technologies and techniques.
- International Intellectual Property: EFF fights to preserve balance in IP laws and ensure that the Internet and digital technologies continue to empower you as a consumer, creator, innovator, scholar, and citizen. The Google Policy Fellow will work on issues in international arenas involving Internet intermediary liability, anti-circumvention law, copyright exceptions and limitations, trade and IP, and comparative analysis of national approaches to orphan works and public access policies.
Future of Music Coalition
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
Future of Music Coalition is a not-for-profit collaboration between members of the music, technology, public policy and intellectual property law communities. FMC seeks to educate the media, policymakers, and the public about music and technology issues, while also bringing together diverse voices in an effort to come up with creative solutions to some of the challenges in this space. FMC also aims to identify and promote innovative business models that will help musicians and citizens to benefit from new technologies.
Our policy agenda focuses on three broad themes, all of which have a direct impact on the ability for artists to make a living in the digital economy:
- Copyright: FMC leads the discussion about the role of copyright in a digital age. In our efforts to facilitate the creation of a legitimate digital music marketplace that allows artists to be compensated for their work, FMC conducts research and curates conversations on a range of copyright-related issues, including artist revenue streams, sampling, royalty rates, enforcement, new business models and other issues that impact musician compensation.
- Internet/broadband policy: FMC's Rock the Net campaign has organized and educated musicians about the importance of access and innovation for creators. We also focus on Internet deployment, affordability, mobile competition and spectrum reform through our active participation in the Washington, DC public interest community.
- Media reform: FMC seeks to reform the radio industry by holding the line on consolidation, expanding and protecting community radio, ending structural payola and establishing sustainable local cultural infrastructure for the benefit of musicians and other creators.
Fellowship focus areas
FMC views policy issues through the frame of research, education and advocacy. The public policy fellow will work with FMC staff to identify issues of particular interest to the fellow, then develop and implement a strategy focusing on:- Researching the issue, with a particular focus on the impact of specific policy decisions on the music community
- Educating the community about this issue through blog posts, fact sheets and coalition briefings
- Advocacy around the issue, especially if policy choices have a clear cut impact on the music community.
Institute for Public Representation
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Institute for Public Representation (IPR) is a public interest law firm and law school clinic at Georgetown Law that works on media law and policy issues.
IPR’s media law and policy section provides pro bono legal representation to media reform organizations, civil rights groups, children’s advocates, consumer groups, and other non-profit organizations on matters related to media law and policy. Our practice is primarily before administrative agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the federal appellate courts.
Our overall goal is to foster a media ecosystem that is responsive to the needs of the public, especially segments of the public that have been traditionally underserved. Because the media landscape is changing rapidly, the types of projects we work on change as well. Many of our cases involve whether and how to apply existing public interest policies to new forms of media and how to promote positive uses of new technologies while limiting potential harms.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow will work closely with IPR’s Director and two staff attorneys on one or more of the above projects or similar projects. The Fellow will conduct legal and factual research, draft a number of different types of documents, and attend meetings with clients, allies and agency staff. We are most interested in candidates who are currently enrolled in law school, but will also consider graduate students in other disciplines such as communications, economics, or computer science, that have expertise relevant to any of the projects described above.Internet Education Foundation
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Internet Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and policymakers about the potential of a decentralized global Internet to promote democracy, communications, and commerce. Founded in 1997, IEF facilitates many educational projects including the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee and the State of the Net Conference Series.
GetNetWise is an educational site that contains information to help parents and computer users stay safe online. GetNetWise.org has the largest searchable database of parental empowerment and cyber security tools on the Internet and uses multimedia audio and video to train users how to use these tools to enhance their safety.
The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) is a diverse group of public interest, non-profit and industry groups working to educate Congress, the federal government and the public about important Internet-related policy issues. The ICAC holds regular briefings for Congressional offices on topical Internet policy questions including broadband, net neutrality, copyright and intellectual property, cyber security, Internet governance and everything in between.
The State of the Net Conference Series brings together thought leaders, public Internet groups, industry and government to discuss the most relevant policy issues facing lawmakers. The annual State of the Net Conference in Washington is DC’s largest technology policy conference.
Fellowship focus areas
- Policy Debates: The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee hosts regular briefings on all major Internet policy issues before Congress (See list above). Fellows would be involved in developing briefing programs on an ongoing basis in all issue areas.
- Congressional App Challenge: The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will be launching the inaugural Congressional App Challenge, encouraging programming education among young people and increasing technology awareness among Members of Congress. Fellows will help with outreach and logistics for the Challenge.
- GetNetWise App: Fellows will be involved in discussing improvements to app and coordinating with privacy and security stakeholders for their input.
- The ICAC State of the Net West Conference: Fellows will help coordinate the speakers and logistics for the August conference.
Joint Center for Political And Economic Studies
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies works to inform and illuminate the nation’s major public policy debates through research, analysis, and information dissemination, with the goal of improving the socioeconomic status of African Americans and other people of color, expanding their effective participation in the political and public policy arenas, and promoting communications and relationships across racial and ethnic lines to strengthen the nation’s pluralistic society. The Joint Center is a trusted source of information on the key topics of the day including health and health care equity, energy and the environment, digital opportunity and innovation, economic security, and civic engagement and governance. Our high quality research, distinctive analyses of the issues, and experience in assembling effective coalitions have been cited by policy makers as helping to generate innovative, practical solutions to America’s most challenging problems.
The Joint Center’s approach includes identifying critical and emerging issues and developing research parameters, as well as collaborating with well-known scholars and experts in designing and conducting rigorous investigations, studies, and reports. Our research findings are publicized in relevant policy circles and among targeted audiences through our strategic partners and with the general public through traditional and new media.
The Joint Center facilitates extensive analysis of facts and issues through the lens of the African American community, with the goal of ensuring its views are considered in the public policy development process. With our extensive polling of African American voters, we are the nation’s key source of information on the black electorate and the elected and appointed officials who represent them at all levels of government.
The Joint Center’s Media and Technology Institute focuses on how the media industry and emerging communications technologies such as broadband and social media can become avenues of advancement for people of color. The Media and Technology Institute produces and distributes research papers and policy reports to inform dialogue and aligns its work to influence policy and advocacy efforts.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies will be supeivised by an attorney. Fellowship Focus Area: The research fellow will contribute to the design and execution of research to help understand how information technology affects people of color.Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (The Leadership Conference) is a coalition of more than 200 national organizations dedicated to the enactment and enforcement of strong federal civil rights and social justice legislation. The Leadership Conference provides a powerful unified voice for the various constituencies of the coalition: persons of color, women, children, individuals with disabilities, gays and lesbians, older Americans, labor unions, major religious groups, civil libertarians, and human rights organizations.
Understanding how media/telecommunications policies address the needs of all communities is a top priority for The Leadership Conference. Our work is based on the recommendations and engagement of The Leadership Conference task force on media and telecommunications policy. The task force is made up of core members of The Leadership Conference community with expertise in communications issues, including the United Church of Christ, Office of Communication, Inc., the ACLU, the National Urban League, the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Consumer Law Center, the Communications Workers of America, NOW, and the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC). The task force develops strategies to speak with a united voice on such timely issues as broadband use and adoption by underserved communities, media ownership, low power FM, and privacy.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights will be supervised by an attorney. The Google Policy Fellow with work closely with The Leadership Conference's Managing Policy Director and the co-chairs of the Media/Telecommunications Task Force. The Fellow may be called on to conduct research on topical policy issues; draft materials such as talking points, fact sheets, letters to Congress and federal agencies, and blog posts; attend meetings of the Media/Telecommunications Task Force, legislative hearings, coalition meetings, and federal agency meetings; and monitor activity on core policy issues.National Consumers League
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is the nation’s pioneering consumer organization. Our non-profit mission is to promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL provides government, businesses and other organizations with the consumer’s perspective on a wide range of issues, including child labor, safe food and drugs, health care, personal finance, workers’ rights, telecommunications and technology policy and consumer fraud protection.
Fellowship focus areas
- Supporting NCL’s telecommunications and technology advocacy agenda through research on policy issues affecting consumers at the FCC, FTC and in Congress.
- Drafting regulatory filings, white papers and blog postings telecommunications and technology policy topics such as wireless “bill shock,” cramming, fraudulent advertising and open government data.
- Supporting NCL’s Fraud Center through investigation of potentially fraudulent enterprises, advocating for more open data policies at anti-fraud agencies, and drafting consumer guides related to online frauds and scams.
- Representing NCL at public convenings, briefings and other events related to consumer protection, telecommunications and technology policy and fraud.
National Hispanic Media Coalition
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a non-profit, civil rights and media advocacy organization. NHMC’s mission is to educate and influence media corporations on the importance of including U.S. Latinos at all levels of employment. It augments the pool of Latino talent with its professional development programs. It challenges media that carelessly exploit negative Latino stereotypes. It scrutinizes and opines on media and telecommunications policy issues.
In Washington, D.C., NHMC staff is often called to testify before Congress and the federal agencies on various media and telecommunications policies that impact the American Latino community. NHMC submits public comments to the FCC record on a variety of policies.
NHMC's main priority is promoting responsible and inclusive media. Other key priorities include facilitating universal and affordable communications, creating empowered media and telecommunications consumers, and privacy in the digital age.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow will work closely with NHMC’s DC-based Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs and its Policy Counsel, to advance NHMC’s agenda. The Fellow will work on complex legal and policy issues, and may be called upon to draft FCC pleadings, internal memoranda, press releases, blog posts, editorials and other documents as needed. The Fellow will be invited to attend meetings with decision makers at the FCC and in Congress, as well as meetings with media reform and civil rights activists. Please note that NHMC will only consider candidates enrolled in a law degree program. The Google Policy Fellow at NHMC will be supervised by an attorney. To learn more about the National Hispanic Media Coalition, please visit www.nhmc.org.New America Foundation
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.
Fellowship focus areas
The Google Policy Fellow would work with the Open Technology Institute and the Media Policy Initiative. OTI formulates policy and regulatory reforms to support open architectures and open source innovations and facilitates the development and implementation of open technologies and communications networks. The Media Policy Initiative works with OTI to promote responsible and robust journalism and is committed to encourage information technologies and practices by studying social and economic impacts – and advocating policies the serve the needs of all Americans. OTI and MPI have lawyers, technologists, journalists and experienced community activists. We look forward to reviewing candidates and finding the best project match and mentor for the Google Policy Fellow.Public Knowledge
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
Public Knowledge is a public-interest advocacy organization dedicated to fortifying and defending a vibrant information commons. This Washington, D.C. based group works with a wide spectrum of stakeholders—libraries, educators, scientists, artists, musicians, journalists, consumers, software programmers, civic groups and enlightened businesses—to promote the core principles of openness, access, and the capacity to create and compete.
Fellowship focus areas
A Public Knowledge fellow will work with members of PK staff and focus on copyright and/or telecommunications-related issues. The fellow will promote policy that ensures that U.S. copyright law and regulation reflect the “cultural bargain” intended by the framers of the Constitution: providing an incentive to creators and innovators while benefiting the public through the free flow of information and ideas. In the area of telecommunications, fellows will work to ensure that producers and consumers of online content will be able to operate without fear of intermediaries discriminating against them. Work may include writing and developing policy papers, briefing memos for policy makers, multimedia presentations, blog post, regulatory comments, and hearing testimony. Fellows are expected to attend and brief PK staff on pertinent Congressional hearings, meetings with policy makers, public interest advocates, and industry coalitions. Public Knowledge also encourages fellows to create an independent research project based on their interests and academic and career goals.
“As a Google Policy Fellow, I had access to speakers and symposia that I would never have known about otherwise. I was able to learn about the basics of lobbying, FCC regulatory structure and procedure, and First Amendment and freedom of expression implications in the online world.”
—Jon Law (PK)
Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic
Fellowship location: Ottawa, Canada
The Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is based at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa in Canada's capital city, Ottawa. CIPPIC's mission is to advocate in the public interest on issues that arise at the intersection of law and technology. CIPPIC accomplishes this by participating in a broad spectrum of public policy debates and proceedings, with the primary objective of ensuring public interest perspectives that would not otherwise be heard receive due consideration. CIPPIC additionally aims to provide legal assistance to under-represented organizations and individuals on matters arising from the use of new technologies, and to provide a high quality and rewarding clinical legal education experience to students of law while accomplishing these goals.
CIPPIC has become a leading voice in policy debates on Internet-related issues such as privacy, copyright law, network neutrality, free speech, online consumer protection, intermediary liability and other telecommunications-related challenges in Canada and internationally. Staff and students pursue these issues via legislative advocacy, cooperative policy-making, litigation, research, and public education.
Fellowship focus areas
- Privacy: Developing robust policy and legislative frameworks within which new technologies can develop while respecting privacy rights; holding governments and corporations accountable under privacy laws; educating the public about privacy rights and issues raised by new technologies.
- Copyright: Assisting under-represented stakeholders in articulating and communicating their interests and concerns about unbalanced approaches to copyright protection domestically and internationally; lobbying for balanced copyright laws.
- Net Neutrality: Analyzing net neutrality issues in a Canadian context; challenging the factual basis asserted by Internet Service Providers and network operators as justification for net neutrality violations such as traffic throttling and data caps; mapping net neutrality concerns to legal rights in various legal and regulatory proceedings.
- Consumer Protection Online: Identifying common unfair terms and practices in electronic commerce and advocating specific policy or law reforms designed to eradicate them; working with other stakeholders to develop solutions to online threats such as spam and spyware.
- Telecommunications: Participating in a range of regulatory proceedings covering telecom-related issues such as the new media transition, mobile phone locking, vertical integration and spectrum allocation issues.
- Public Education: Educating the public on various rights and issues raised by new technologies. This can include drafting and updating website FAQs and Resources on such issues as free speech online, intermediary liability, identity theft, and online privacy.
- Please note that CIPPIC will only be considering applications from students enrolled in a law program. The Google Policy Fellow at CIPPIC will be supervised by an attorney.
TechFreedom
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
TechFreedom is a non-profit public policy think tank that launched in January 2011. Our mission is to unleash the progress of technology that improves the human condition and expands individual capacity to choose. We believe human ingenuity is the ultimate resource, but that it can flourish only in a policy environment that recognizes the central importance of individual rights, individual as well as corporate responsibility, user empowerment, entrepreneurship, and dynamic technological change.
Our Fellow will have the opportunity to work with our analysts on all aspects of their work, which integrates legal, technical, and policy analysis. A background in law, economics or technology is strongly preferred. Responsibilities will include research, writing, attending hearings and meetings, and helping to organize events. The Fellow will be engaged in rigorous research endeavors and will be given the opportunity to potentially author and/or co-author white papers, editorials, blog entries, and other articles and essays.
Technology Policy Institute
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
http://www.techpolicyinstitute.org
The Technology Policy Institute is a think tank that focuses on the economics of innovation, technological change, and related regulation in the United States and around the world. Our mission is to advance knowledge and inform policymakers by producing independent, rigorous research and by sponsoring educational programs and conferences on major issues affecting information technology and communications policy.
Today’s digital economy may be new, but the economic principles underlying it are not. First principles still matter in both developed and emerging economies. Thus, government should intervene in these dynamic markets only when markets fail and when proposed solutions will demonstrably improve society’s well-being. New technologies can greatly improve standards of living around the globe, but policymakers must carefully consider how policies affect the development of those technologies. Our research will help inform those deliberations. The Technology Policy Institute is a 501(c)(3) research and educational foundation.
Fellowship focus areas
- Broadband policy: Effects of public policies on investment in infrastructure and content, international comparisons of broadband policies, and spectrum policy.
- Privacy and data security: Benefits and costs to consumers of online information flows, and the effects of alternative privacy policies on consumers and the development of the Internet.
- Energy policy: Effects of electricity liberalization, and implications of information and communications technology for grid management and energy conservation.
- Competition policy: The effects of competition policy (e.g., antitrust) on innovative, high-tech sectors.
- Internet governance: how accountability, organizational structure, and regulatory policy affect development of the Internet globally.
- High-skilled immigration: effects on economic growth and productivity, international trade and outsourcing, worker displacement and federal finances.
- Health Information Technology: Costs and benefits of investment in health IT, barriers to adoption, standards, and privacy.
The Citizen Lab
Fellowship location: Toronto, Canada
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. Our research focuses on the intersection of information communications technologies (ICTs), global security, and human rights. Our mission is to undertake research and development that monitors, analyzes, and impacts the exercise of political power in cyberspace. We achieve this mission through collaborative partnerships with leading-edge research centers, organizations, and individuals around the world.
Our group is composed of a diverse mix of researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines including political science, sociology, law, computer science, and engineering. Since 2001, we have developed a unique mixed-methods approach to the study of ICTs, politics, human rights, security, and governance. We combine techniques from computer science and information security with field research, qualitative social science methodologies, and legal and policy analysis undertaken by subject matter experts.
The Citizen Lab’s ongoing research network includes the OpenNet Initiative, OpenNet Eurasia, OpenNet Asia, and the Cyber Stewards Program. The Citizen Lab was a founding partner of the Information Warfare Monitor (2002-2012). The Citizen Lab developed the original design of Psiphon, a censorship circumvention software, which spun out of the lab into a private Canadian corporation (Psiphon Inc.) in 2008.
Fellowship focus areas
Each year we tailor the Google Policy Fellowship to the individual fellow to match his / her interests and strengths with current projects at the Citizen Lab. In general we encourage applicants to apply who are interested in two broad areas (or combinations of the two):- Legal and Policy Research: Evaluation of laws, policies, and norms related to Internet censorship and surveillance.
- Technical Research: Empirically document technologies and technical practices behind Internet censorship and surveillance. This area can include: research and development of software tools, censorship and surveillance testing, data analysis, and visualization.
US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Fellowship location: Washington, DC, USA
The country’s largest Hispanic business organization, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of over 3 million Hispanic‐owned businesses in the United States that generate in excess of $465 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States and Puerto Rico.
- Technology Adoption: Assist businesses with understanding how technology can streamline their business processes, create new channels of information, and improve entrepreneurial access to best practices.
- Wireless and Broadband Adoption: Work to expand access to high-speed internet and wireless networks, which will facilitate growth of Hispanic owned firms in the information economy.
- Openness of the Internet Marketplace: Ensure that the openness of the Internet, which has been central to its development and encouraged countless innovations, continues to empower businesses to make the choices that are in their best interests.
- Intellectual Property: Work to ensure a level playing field for Hispanic entrepreneurs who take their innovative processes abroad by aggressively protecting against foreign theft and Internet piracy.
- Science and Technology Education: Increase access to high quality science and technology educational opportunities for both students of all ages.
