SCCs are a widely used legal tool to transfer personal data out of the EU, but courts and regulators are making them costlier and more complex. This is a sign of Europe’s march toward de facto data localization—a threat to transatlantic digital trade that policymakers must avoid.

Publications
December 16, 2020
Congress should at least double the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program (currently funded at $285 million), but limit the additional funds only for true STEM degrees, rather than fields like psychology, economics, and sociology, which NSF wrongly defines as STEM.
December 14, 2020
If automation proves to have a more positive impact on employment than once previously thought, then it could greatly alter the national conversation surrounding workforce development and technological innovation.
December 14, 2020
Augmented reality (AR) amplifies some of the most pressing privacy concerns for bystanders in the digital world and combines them in new ways. Policymakers should develop safeguards that allow for shifting perceptions of privacy in public space.
December 12, 2020
The relevant dividing line in U.S. economic policy is no longer between markets and government; it is between growth and redistribution. Writing in American Compass, Rob D.
December 11, 2020
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the widespread adoption of digital technologies that make
December 10, 2020
Rob Atkinson spoke at the Asia Times webinar on the Biden Administration's tech policy, including the tech war with China.
December 8, 2020
Many countries are waking up to realize localization is bad policy and are taking steps to roll back such measures. But it appears not enough policymakers learned their lesson, as history seems to be repeating itself with another emerging technology: drones.
December 7, 2020
AI can reduce the time it takes to synthesize and screen new drugs by 40 percent to 50 percent, reducing costs in those parts of the research process by as much as $26 billion annually.
December 7, 2020
Presidential candidate Joe Biden regularly cited electrification of the federal government’s giant vehicle fleet as a concrete action he would take to move the country toward a clean energy economy. But an Obama-style executive order directing federal agencies to acquire EVs at some future date is not sufficient. The Biden administration needs a much more front-loaded, comprehensive and aggressive strategy.