About
Mission
The Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) is dedicated to connecting independent research with technology policy and design. Georgetown University and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation came together to launch the institute as a central hub for the growing network of scholarship that seeks to shape how technology is used to produce, disseminate, and access information. KGI is designed to provide practical resources that policymakers, journalists, and private and public sector leaders can use to tackle information and technology issues in real time.
KGI was created at Georgetown to address the most pressing policy issues facing the online information environment. The internet and digital technologies have enabled the dramatic expansion of access to information and ideas, helped amplify millions of marginalized voices, and bolstered movements for justice around the world. But the technologies that once promised to usher in a new era of democracy are also being used to spread disinformation, undermine social and institutional trust, and disenfranchise participants in the democratic process. Underlying this shift is the growing concentration of power over information production and distribution systems in the hands of a few corporate giants.
KGI’s mandate is to channel the insights, evidence, and brainpower from the research and public interest communities to form a collective response to these trends. Independent technology research is now a vital component of our nation’s intellectual infrastructure, spanning social science, data science, computer science, communications, economics, law, and beyond. KGI distills salient insights from across this vibrant and growing research field into actionable resources that inform critical decisions in policy and industry. KGI also acts as a convener, building relationships between leading academics and key decisionmakers.
Through research production, translation, synthesis, and convening, KGI creates a necessary defense against the increasingly closed and privatized systems mediating access to information today.
Values
Service for the common good
Housed at Georgetown University and aligned with Georgetown’s Mission, KGI supports the development of evidenced-based technology policies that promote the common good. With the use of technology ubiquitous across nearly all facets of society, KGI works to realize a technology future that addresses the closed and privatized systems mediating access to information today.
Nonpartisanship
As an independent, 501(c)(3) nonpartisan Institute focused on building an information future for the common good, we undertake and support nonpartisan research, analysis and collaboration to better inform technology policy and design. Our commitment to nonpartisanship underpins how we collaborate with partners and engage with policymakers.
Academic rigor
KGI works to ensure policies are informed through technically grounded, rigorous, independent research. We support efforts to identify areas of consensus and priority questions to forge more evidence-based responses to pressing issues related to technology, policy, and ethics. We do not accept funding which could hinder our ability to conduct our operations free of influence. An expert Steering Council contributes to the strategic direction and ongoing programs of the Institute.
Open collaboration
Collaboration is core to KGI’s mission and methods of work. We identify areas of focus and build shared strategies with scholars, policymakers, advocates, practitioners, and those impacted by technology. We take a global perspective, and work across a wide range of viewpoints and disciplines – including social science, computer science, law, economics, journalism – to identify priority policy and design recommendations. We seek to continually improve in ways that ensure meaningful and reciprocal engagement across diverse technology fields.
Optimization for impact
We inform live policy discussions and real-time decisions affecting individuals and societies today. We serve as a bridge between the research field and policy and industry practitioners, adapting how evidence and findings from research are communicated to meet the needs and timelines of policymakers.