Dublin is small. That’s something that’s easy to forget when you are weaving through massive crowds on Grafton Street at 3PM on a Saturday. But its something that I’m reminded of every time I’m given the opportunity to meet with someone working in technology policy along Dublin’s Silicon Docks.
Since arriving in Dublin, I’ve been fortunate to meet with people working in industry, government, and civil society to promote technologies which protect user rights and encourage a positive online experience. But my meetings with these people haven’t just been informative, they’ve been transformative.
Every time I meet with someone working in this field, I feel grateful that they are willing to spare some of their free time to share their insights with me, a random American student they’ve never met. But beyond simply sharing their experiences with me, these individuals have gone out of their way to invest in my growth. They’ve connected me with other people working in the field and invited me to events to learn more about emerging challenges in the digital policy space.
Most importantly, they’ve treated me as their equal–which I am not, by any means. As I’ve met people working for Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, Digital Rights Ireland, or Reddit, I’ve found that the people I engage with are always interested in my perspective and insights as an American living in Dublin, despite the fact that I have significantly less experience than them. I greatly appreciate their genuine interest in my opinion, as this has given me confidence in my own ability to scrutinize technology policy and believe that it will make me a better lawyer in the future.
These individuals have also reaffirmed that I am pursuing the right career for me. Working for Digital Rights Ireland as a legal researcher, I feel immensely fortunate that my supervisors have shared their insights on the EU’s technology policy strategy with me. Learning from lawyers and researchers at University College Dublin, I’ve become fascinated by minute details in landmark legislation and company policy. (An encouraging development given that I hope to become a lawyer).
Some other highlights from my time in Dublin include: attending an event on AI in education at Google headquarters; visiting Microsoft headquarters with my MSc in Digital Policy cohort and learning about content moderation at LinkedIn; attending a conference put on by the Data Protection Commission for data protection officers; and attending an event on AI at the German embassy in Dublin.
