All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech Summit: Ensuring Our Tech Future Is Aligned With Democracy - September 16, 2024 at SVA Theatre

Written By David Polgar

All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech Summit: Ensuring Our Tech Future Is Aligned With Democracy took place on Monday September 16 at SVA Theatre in New York City. This curated convening brought together hundreds of stakeholders from across civil society, government, industry, and academia to discuss ways to strengthen and broaden the Responsible Tech movement.

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Recap: All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech Summit

Fireside Chat | Assessing the State of Responsible AI: Where Do We Go From Here?

This panel explores the Responsible AI landscape, what’s missing, and explores future possibilities across governance, open vs. closed-source models, and the ways Responsible AI can be developed globally.

Fireside chat participants include:

Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Humane Intelligence

Dr. Rumman Chowdhury’s passion lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and humanity. She is a pioneer in the field of applied algorithmic ethics, creating cutting-edge socio-technical solutions for ethical, explainable and transparent AI. She is CEO and co-founder of Humane Intelligence, and the first person to be appointed by the Department of State as the United States Science Envoy for Artificial Intelligence.

Rob Reich, Senior Advisor, US AI Safety Institute

Rob Reich is on public service leave from Stanford University to serve as Senior Advisor to the US AI Safety Institute. His scholarship in political theory engages with the work of social scientists and engineers. His newest work is on ethics and AI. His most recent books are System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (with Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein, HarperCollins 2021) and Digital Technology and Democratic Theory (edited with Lucy Bernholz and Hélène Landemore, University of Chicago Press 2021).

Moderated by: Sinead Bovell, Founder & CEO,  WAYE 

Sinead Bovell is a strategic foresight advisor and the founder of WAYE, an organization that prepares youth for a future with advanced technologies, with a focus on non-traditional and minority markets.

Sinead advises c-suite executives and senior leadership across governments, global business giants and startups alike. She is an 11x United Nations speaker; she has given formal addresses to presidents, royalty and Fortune 500 leaders on topics ranging from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, and currently serves as a strategic advisor to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union on digital inclusion.

Panel Discussion | Safeguarding Crucial Civil Society & Academic Research in Contentious Times

This panel will take stock of the current disinformation defense landscape, particularly in the U.S, and how it is affecting journalists, researchers, the trust and safety community, and democratic systems at large. Speakers will provide their thoughts and perspectives on what mechanisms and safeguards need to be put in place to protect civil society and academia as well as democratic institutions while upholding civil liberties and rights.

Panelists include:

Nina Jankowicz, Co-Founder and CEO, The American Sunlight Project

Nina Jankowicz, the co-founder and CEO of The American Sunlight Project, is an internationally-recognized expert on disinformation and democratization, one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, and the author of two books: How to Lose the Information War (2020), which The New Yorker called “a persuasive new book on disinformation as a geopolitical strategy,” and How to Be A Woman Online (2022), an examination of online abuse and disinformation and tips for fighting back, which Publishers Weekly named “essential.” Jankowicz has advised governments, international organizations, and tech companies, and testified before the US Congress, UK Parliament, and European Parliament. 

Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press

Nora works at the intersection of law, tech and democracy, elevating interdisciplinary solutions to complex threats facing our society. Benavidez leads Free Press’ democracy and tech initiatives, including its policy, legal and campaign efforts to curb disinformation, hate and other manipulation online while protecting digital civil rights, privacy and free expression. Benavidez has appeared before the U.S. Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, the Canadian House of Commons and other regulatory bodies. She is the lead author of the Free Press research reports Big Tech Backslide (2023), which examines how tech companies’ retreat from platform integrity harms democracy, and Empty Promises (2022), which analyzes the role social-media platform policies play in elections.

Alex Abdo, Litigation Director, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University

Alex Abdo is the inaugural litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. He has been involved in the conception and litigation of most of the Institute’s legal challenges. His work has focused most recently on challenges to the use of spyware to intimidate journalists, the secrecy of the Office of Legal Counsel’s legal opinions, the digitization of mail in jails and prisons, and the legal threats issued by social media platforms to researchers hoping to illuminate the influence that the platforms are having on society.

Moderated by: Suzi Ragheb, U.S. Policy Manager, Center for Countering Digital Hate

Suzi Ragheb serves as a US and Multilaterals Policy Manager at the Center for Countering Digital Hate. Suzi previously worked on international policy and strategy at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She has also worked for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Democratic National Committee Convention, the NJ State Legislature, and has consulted on several political campaigns. She holds a BA from Saint Peter's University and an MPA from Princeton University.

Panel Discussion | Promoting Global, Multistakeholder Collaboration

This panel will examine how practitioners, policymakers, and other actors are keeping the public safe. Panelists examine existing online harms, the impact and lasting effects they have on victims, and the initiatives in place to mitigate them. Additionally, speakers will consider what needs to be done to promote global cross-sector, interdisciplinary cooperation to foster an open, secure, safe internet that respects human rights.

Panelists include:

Filippo Pierozzi, Associate Expert, United Nations

Filippo is a member of the Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology where he focuses on digital cooperation, online safety, and artificial intelligence.  Prior to joining the UN Filippo worked on Trust and Safety at Twitter and with the Digital Team in Italy's Prime Minister Office. He holds a Master's degree from the College of Europe and he is an alumnus of Sant'Anna School in Pisa (Italy).

Roberta Braga, Founder and Executive Director, Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA)

Roberta Braga is the Founder and Executive Director of the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, an NGO dedicated to strengthening a healthier Internet for Latinos in the U.S. and Latin America. Roberta brings years of expertise working in U.S.-Latin America foreign policy, democracy-building and campaigns and communications. Previously, she was Director of Counter-Disinformation Strategies at Equis Institute, Deputy Director for Programs and Outreach at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, and Manager for Global Content and Campaigns at the law firm Baker McKenzie.

Jonathan Tan, First Secretary Technology Policy, British Embassy Washington

Jonny Tan is the First Secretary Technology Policy at the British Embassy in Washington. A career diplomat, Jonny previously worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the UK’s Office for Science and Technology Strategy, where he helped to develop the UK’s Strategic Framework on Technology. He previously held a role as the FCDO’s first Emerging Technology Policy Officer, led negotiations with the Taliban at the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha, and worked on Counter Terrorism issues at the British Embassy in Baghdad. He is a Fellow at the Newton Venture Program – the UK’s leading VC program, run in collaboration with the London Business School. He holds a Bachelors from Harvard University and an Masters from the London School of Economics.

Moderated by: Sara Rendtorff-Smith, Chief Policy Advisor - Tech Peace & Security Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Ministry

Sara is currently the Chief Policy Advisor on technology, peace, and security at the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN. With fifteen years of experience in international relations, global governance, and policy development with a focus on human rights and civilian protection, Sara represents Denmark in negotiations on AI and emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and cybercrime, while contributing to policy formulation on broader issues of international peace and security in preparation for Denmark's seat on the UN Security Council in 2025-26. Serving as one of the lead negotiators for the EU on the first UN General Assembly resolution on AI, Sara has also been closely involved in multilateral negotiations of the Global Digital Compact, which is expected to be adopted by world leaders in September 2024.

Fireside Chat | Future of Tech Policy

What are the current Tech Policy trends, challenges, and opportunities? Who is missing from prominent Tech Policy conversations? How can Tech Policy promote technology that works in the public interest? How does Tech Policy influence the landscape of technology in 2025 and beyond?

Featuring:

Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications

Melissa Fleming was appointed UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications in September 2019. She leads the UN’s Department of Global Communications, which informs global audiences about the state of the world and engages them to build support for the work and goals of the United Nations.

Moderated by: Justin Hendrix, CEO and Editor, Tech Policy Press

Justin Hendrix is CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press, a new nonprofit media venture concerned with the intersection of technology and democracy. Previously, he was Executive Director of NYC Media Lab. He spent over a decade at The Economist in roles including Vice President, Business Development & Innovation. He is an associate research scientist and adjunct professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Opinions expressed here are his own.

Photos from All Tech Is Human’s Responsible Tech Summit: Ensuring Our Tech Future is Aligned With Democracy

About All Tech Is Human

All Tech Is Human is a non-profit committed to building the world’s largest multistakeholder, multidisciplinary network in Responsible Tech. This allows us to tackle wicked tech & society issues while moving at the speed of tech, leverage the collective intelligence of the community, and diversify the traditional tech pipeline. Together, we work to solve tech & society’s thorniest issues.

David Polgar
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