2024: A Year In Review

December 23, 2024

As the year comes to a close, we invite you to look back at just some of the ways we continue to lead the way at the intersection of technology, law, and policy.

The Tech Institute is led by Executive Director Natalie Roisman and three Faculty Co-Directors, Georgetown Law Professors Julie Cohen, Paul Ohm, and Tanina Rostain. With up-to-the-minute curriculum, impactful experiential opportunities, world class faculty, and cutting-edge policy and access-to-justice programs, convenings, and initiatives, we are facilitating the ability of students, scholars, alumni, policymakers, and practitioners to face the most urgent questions of the moment.

Our Students

In the 2024-25 academic year, 148 students are directly connected with the Tech Institute, whether through the selective J.D. Tech Law Scholars Program, Tech LL.M. program, Master of Law and Technology (MLT), Georgetown Law Technology Review student-run journal, or a combination.

Academic Program Director Mary Pat Dwyer leads the Tech Institute’s student programs, working closely with faculty to provide tailored coursework, specialized academic and career counseling, field visits, networking and mentoring opportunities, and more. Before the start of spring semester 2024, Mary Pat taught an intensive Week One seminar for first-year students entitled “Regulating Online Speech in the Age of Social Media.” To welcome new students to campus in the fall, she took incoming first-year students on an exclusive White House tour of the Office of the National Cyber Director and hosted an event for LL.M. students with the Tech Institute’s newest Faculty Advisor, Professor Filippo Lancieri.

During Georgetown University’s Tech & Society Week, Tech LL.M. students delivered lightning talks on the novel governance challenges presented by artificial intelligence (AI), and how their home countries are responding to those challenges, at Global Perspectives on AI Governance.

GLTR published two issues in 2024. The first issue explored social media content moderation, end-to-end encryption, and election technology. The second issue focused on artificial intelligence, drawing insights from the GLTR Symposium to explain the possible benefits and drawbacks of AI in the legal field. The issue also discussed other aspects of AI, such as deepfakes and generative AI sources. The journal also hosted the Georgetown Law Technology Review Symposium, featuring academics, government technologists, philosophers, and media experts, to discuss the use of AI in law.

Learn more about our students in the “Student Spotlight” series available here.

Event Highlights

It was a busy year! 

On behalf of Georgetown Law, the Tech Institute was honored to host the Privacy Law Scholars Conference in May 2024. This premier academic conference of privacy, law, and technology scholars, researchers, and practitioners provides an opportunity to incubate and critique privacy law scholarship.

Much of the year was focused on AI. In collaboration with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, the Tech Institute hosted The Global South, Geopolitics, and the U.S., Europe, and China’s Competition to Influence Global AI Regulation. The discussion centered around AI in Africa and the Global South, and how policies can protect labor, sustainability, and human rights.

The Institute’s AI Governance Series, organized by Tech Institute Faculty Advisor Professor Anupam Chander and Non-Resident Fellow Kyoko Yoshinaga (Keio University) with Assistant Professor Nikolas Guggenberger of University of Houston Law Center, produced a series of webinars with featured speakers such as Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer at OpenAI, and Brando Benifei, a Member of the European Parliament and co-rapporteur of the EU AI Act. 

During the August Congressional recess, the Tech Institute hosted Tech Foundations for Government Staff: Spotlight on AI. This three-day academic program, attended by nearly 60 Congressional, White House, and federal agency staff, featured discussions with technologists and legal scholars on how emerging technologies work and their policy implications. Numerous Tech Institute Faculty Advisors served as Tech Foundations instructors, including Professors Kristelia Garcia, Amanda Levendowski, and Mitt Regan.

In September, AI on Trial: Liability in the AI Ecosystem brought together experts to discuss the potential legal frameworks and challenges to holding AI creators and users accountable for the harms caused by AI. The conference, organized by Professor Paul Ohm, Associate Professor Alan Rozenshtein of University of Minnesota Law School, and Associate Professor Chinmayi Sharma of Fordham Law School, addressed aspects of AI liability such as negligence, regulatory enforcement, and First Amendment considerations, and was featured in an episode of the Lawfare Daily podcast.

In May, the Tech Institute partnered with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Tech Institute Distinguished Fellow Gigi Sohn to convene a wide range of experts on local broadband permitting with the goal of collaboratively identifying ways to improve the permitting process and expedite delivery of broadband to every American. The convening’s findings were summarized in a paper entitled Permitting Success: Closing the Digital Divide Through Local Broadband Permitting.”

The Tech Institute’s 2024 book talks included hosting Professors Nick Couldry of the London School of Econonomics and Political Science and Ulises Mejias of SUNY Oswego for a discussion of their book, Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back and co-hosting, with the Center for Asian Law and the Georgetown China Law Society, Associate Professor Angela Zhang of University of Southern California Law School for a discussion of her book, High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy.

Ongoing Projects

Redesigning the Governance Stack Series Publishes Second Preliminary Concept Paper

The Redesigning the Governance Stack project, which aims to reinvent the institutions and tools used to govern technology and technology companies, published its second preliminary concept paper, “Provisioning Digital Tools and Systems for Government Use.” The project is led by Professors Paul Ohm, Julie Cohen, and Meg Leta Jones and supported by Senior Institute Associate Nina-Simone Edwards.

Judicial Innovation Fellowship Enhances Access to Justice in State Courts

The Judicial Innovation Fellowship, under the direction of JIF co-founders Professor Tanina Rostain and Program Director Jason Tashea, concluded its first year. The inaugural JIF cohort included technology professionals who worked to modernize the court system. Fellows were placed in courts in Tennessee, Kansas, and Utah, building critical data infrastructure to improve court services. The fellows integrated into courts’ staff, working to modernize website design, project management software, and court docket systems. Congratulations and thank you to the pioneer JIF fellows, Kat Albrecht, Emily Lippolis, and Verenice Ramirez! In December, JIF published a pilot report reflecting on the first year of the program.

Technology Impact Lab Offers Experiential Learning Opportunity

The Tech Institute officially launched the Technology Impact Lab, an exciting new initiative aimed at shaping the future of technology through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. The lab, helmed by Professors Paul Ohm and Meg Leta Jones and directed by Tech Institute Senior Institute Associate and Lab Manager Jon Brescia, is a unique merger of project-based research and seminar instruction that levels up the next generation of tech policy professionals. The first official section of the course, cross-listed at Georgetown Law and the Communications, Culture, and Technology graduate program, met in the spring semester of 2024. The selective, application-only course attracted students from across the university, who worked on projects with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

South Carolina Justice Navigators Network Trains Social Service Providers in Legal First Aid

The South Carolina Justice Navigators Network continued to train social service providers in South Carolina in “Legal First Aid.” Developed by Professor Tanina Rostain, this training allows social service providers to identify their clients’ legal problems at an early stage, create accurate, timely referrals to legal service providers, and facilitate community members’ use of existing tools and self-help materials.

Government AI Hire, Use, and Buy (HUB) Roundtable Series

Together with the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), the Tech Institute co-hosted the Government AI Hire, Use, and Buy Roundtable Series, centered around the federal government’s use of AI technologies, purchase of AI technology, and hiring of AI talent. Tech Institute Executive Director Natalie Roisman and Faculty Advisor Professor Neel Sukhatme, among others, represented the Institute in this collaboration. The roundtable series’ conclusions will soon be published in a report.

Staff Changes

We said farewell and thank you this year to our 2023-24 Justice Fellows, John Eagle Miles (L‘23) and Charlotte Schultz (L‘23); Legal Fellow Alice Cao (L’23); and Senior Institute Associate Brenda Dvoskin (now Professor Brenda Dvoskin), and we welcomed our 2024-25 Justice Fellow, Matthew Sparks (L‘24); Senior Institute Associate Nina-Simone Edwards (L’24); and Operations Manager Beau Rowland. Six students worked for the Tech Institute in a variety of roles throughout 2024.

As 2024 comes to a close, we are sad to say goodbye to Program Coordinator Samantha Simonsen, who has played an integral role in the Institute in her time with us.

Looking Forward to 2025

A special thanks to all who helped make this year possible, including dedicated alumni leaders from the Board of Visitors and Law Alumni Board, event moderators and speakers, guest lecturers, adjunct faculty, mentors, academic year and summer research assistants, and especially the individuals and organizations without whose financial support the Tech Institute could not serve the Georgetown community and beyond.

We hope that in the year to come you’ll engage with the Tech Institute in one or more ways – with your help, we can grow even further as a hub for research and dialogue, expand the ways we help train policymakers, and enhance the experience and career prospects of students and alumni at the intersection of technology, law, and policy.

  • With a new Administration and Congress, we expect to have a lot to cover in the coming year. As always, we will convene thought leaders on hot topics and create opportunities for students, alumni, and the Georgetown community to explore the legal and policy ramifications.  
  • It’s going to be another year where AI is front and center. We’ll conclude our research series with the Beeck Center and CSET, continue sessions of our virtual AI Governance Symposium series, and launch a new Georgetown AI and Law Initiative (stay tuned!).
  • More than ever, we seek to ensure that the policymakers and other government staff who will decide the legal future of emerging technologies have a rigorous understanding of the technologies themselves. In addition to hosting our annual August recess Tech Foundations, we plan to expand to include offerings to staff in state AG offices, state legislatures, and state public utility commissions, as well as in federal and state courts.
  • We will engage more alumni of Georgetown Law and the Institute’s programs, taking the Institute on the road to New York City (April 2025) and elsewhere, eager to meet with anyone and everyone who wants to learn about all we’re doing. We are happy to come to you – just ask!
  • By the end of 2025, we plan to celebrate publication of the new Artificial Intelligence Law casebook, co-authored by Professor Paul Ohm with Professor Margot Kaminski of University of Colorado Law School and Assistant Professor Andrew Selbst of UCLA School of Law. The book, which originated in Professor Ohm’s AI Law course at Georgetown Law in fall 2023, will emphasize the practice of AI law and provide technical primers on AI technologies. 
  • And of course, we will be looking to build and expand collaborations within and beyond Georgetown, including connecting with organizations and individuals focused on strengthening the network of public interest technology law practitioners.

We look forward to seeing you next year! Be sure to keep an eye on our website and follow us on LinkedIn to see announcements and learn about more upcoming public events.

Please reach out to Executive Director Natalie Roisman at nr671@georgetown.edu if you or your organization are interested in supporting the Tech Institute through a gift or otherwise engaging with us in our work. Or click here to make a gift and designate “Institute for Tech Law and Policy” where indicated.

Thank you and warm wishes for the new year,

The Tech Institute