On Dec. 8, the CITRIS Tech Policy initiative hosted Data, Democracy and Design: Conversations in Tech Policy at its UC Berkeley headquarters in Sutardja Dai Hall, convening a cross-sector community of scholars, students, policymakers, technologists and civil society leaders for an afternoon of dialogue exploring how technology can better serve democratic values.
The symposium took place on a milestone day for CITRIS, its 25th anniversary, marked by a video message from former California Gov. Gray Davis, whose leadership helped establish the California Institutes for Science and Innovation. His remarks underscored how CITRIS’s mission — to foster research and innovation in service of the public good — remains as urgent today as when it was founded.
The program opened with a student poster session in the Kvamme Atrium, highlighting research by graduate and undergraduate students from across the UC community. They presented projects on digital equity, responsible AI, climate and technology, cybersecurity, and online safety — reflecting both the breadth of issues facing society and the emerging generation of leaders eager to address them.
Following the poster session, participants gathered in the Banatao Auditorium for a welcome and overview of CITRIS’s work, including the growing influence of the CITRIS Tech Policy research initiative. This semester, the initiative led an interdisciplinary course in technology policy, convened working groups on topics such as AI governance and digital safety, and co-hosted the inaugural UC Berkeley Tech Policy Summit. These efforts set the stage for the afternoon’s focus on designing technology and policy that support transparency, accountability and democratic resilience.
A highlight of the symposium was the fireside chat with Randi Michel, senior adviser for technology to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Michel discussed California’s ambitious agenda for shaping the future of technology — from executive orders addressing the risks of AI to efforts to democratize access to high-performance computing. She emphasized the need to ground policy in technical understanding, saying “guardrails and safety protocols should be based on facts, not fear.” Michel also emphasized the importance of fostering public–private collaboration and ensuring that California remains a global leader in innovation that protects and empowers its residents.
The first panel, “From Funding to Action: Philanthropy and Advocacy in Tech Policy,” brought together experts working at the intersection of funding, civic engagement and public-interest technology. Panelists Saanvi Arora (Youth Power Project), Michael Kleinman (Future of Life Institute), Drew Liebert (CITED), and Nichole Rocha (Omidyar Network), moderated by UC Berkeley’s David Evan Harris, explored how targeted investments, youth-led organizing and strategic advocacy can shift the policy landscape toward greater equity and responsibility. Their discussion highlighted the powerful role that funders and civic organizations play by collaborating with lawmakers to support communities, minimize online harm and advance policy reform.
The panel also highlighted a growing bipartisan consensus: Worries about technology’s influence on children, workers and civic life now extend across the political spectrum, creating new opportunities for collaborative policy work. Kleinman emphasized the value of coordinated action, noting that “the more people we can have moving in the same direction, the better — quantity has a quality all its own.”
The second panel, “Data Science, AI and Policy: Technical Pathways to Accountability,” examined how emerging tools in data science can help address urgent governance challenges. Speakers Hany Farid from the UC Berkeley School of Information, Sonia Katyal from UC Berkeley Law, and Zubair Shafiq from the UC Davis College of Engineering, highlighted advances in algorithmic auditing, deepfake detection, privacy-preserving analysis and interdisciplinary approaches to regulatory design.
Moderated by Genevieve Smith from UC Berkeley’s AI Research Lab (BAIR), the panel emphasized the importance of technical rigor paired with legal, ethical and policy insight. As Farid noted, “The more you understand this technology, the better equipped you are to advise on policy.”
The afternoon’s final session comprised a series of lightning talks from campus and community partners, showcasing active collaborations across the UC system. Vera Zakem, California state chief technology innovation officer, highlighted the partnership with CITRIS to welcome 20 responsible technology fellows to state departments in the spring. Peter Anstee, Australia’s first assistant secretary for counter foreign interference, cyber and technology, spoke of cybersecurity challenges from his perspective in Australia’s Foreign Office and commented on the social media ban for children under 16, Ritwik Gupta, a BAIR postdoctoral scholar and incoming faculty member at the University of Maryland, discussed dual-use technology. Additional presentations came from policy leaders across the campus and from students participating in the CITRIS-convened Tech Policy Design course.
This program concluded with a reception and community mixer sponsored by California Common Cause, offering opportunity for continued dialogue and new connections. The gathering underscored CITRIS’s enduring commitment to advancing technologies — and policies — that strengthen democracy and serve the public good.
Final photo: Randi Michel, Vera Sakem, Camille Crittenden and Steven Luo