The policy engagement team leverages Data & Society’s empirical expertise to advance actionable policy recommendations, promote equitable governance of technologies, and challenge industry-dominated narratives on innovation. In collaboration with the Public Technology Leadership Collaborative, we primarily work at the US federal and state levels to engage agencies, lawmakers, civil and human rights advocacy organizations, workers and unions, and other civil society stakeholders. 

We take a broad view of technology policy. The policy engagement team focuses on issues like the use of AI in the public sector, the political power of the tech industry, the role of the public in governance, and AI’s perceived centrality amid geopolitical tensions. As AI and algorithmic systems make it harder for people to democratically contest harms and hold the powerful to account, we aim to release timely and relevant interventions that advance structural solutions, not technological tweaks. 

By contributing sociotechnical research to ongoing debates on technology governance, we reframe policy narratives and solutions, shifting from industry-dominated proposals to regulatory frameworks that center people, workers, and communities.