How do we get Internet policy right? Bring in the nerds.

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[Commentary] The Internet has transformed how we connect and engage with the world around us, creating challenges and opportunities in every area of contemporary life. On one hand, the Internet can foster learning, organize global movements, distribute financial supports and expose injustices. On the other, it can be used to exert control, stifle legitimate discourse, entrench bias and concentrate power in the hands of a few. While there has been positive momentum in 2015, research on where tech talent is headed is less rosy. According to a recent report, only 4 percent of computer science graduates went to work for the federal government. By comparison, about 70 percent entered the private sector. We need to change the incentives if we are to attract the new leaders the Internet needs.

Just imagine the potential of developing leadership opportunities and real career paths for Web literate, digitally-savvy public servants. The market will not solve this imbalance. What would the country look like in five years if our best and brightest engineering and computer science graduates viewed positions at the State House, on Capitol Hill, and with NGOs in the same way they currently look to Silicon Valley? We’d be able to safeguard the Internet we all love and rely on: a global, shared resource, open and accessible to all.

[Dave Steer is the Mozilla Foundation's director of advocacy. Jenny Toomey is the Ford Foundation's director of Internet rights.]


How do we get Internet policy right? Bring in the nerds.