On Friday, the Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State will host a day-long conference on “Technology, Innovation, and Regulation.” It’s an admittedly broad topic. What we have in mind are twin questions: How does regulation affect technological innovation? And how does technological innovation affect regulation?

We’ll be focusing on specific issues regarding social media, “regulatory sandboxes,” A.I., and biotech, plus deeper questions of how “big data” and disruptive technologies may affect our basic conceptions of law. And in these conversations we’re honored to be joined not just by expert scholars and practitioners, but also by government officials with significant experience in the topics at hand.

Each panel discussion will center around one or more new working papers prepared specifically for this conference (and workshopped at a research roundtable last spring). I’ll list the panels and link the papers, below.

If you’re interested in attending, then please RSVP! If you’re not able to attend but interested in the panels, then keep an eye out for video and audio recordings, which will be released in the weeks ahead.

The conference will be keynoted by Kate Lauer, former head of global policy for PayPal, now an advisor Jiko, a FinTech startup.

PANEL 1: Should Social Media Be Regulated for “Neutrality”?

• Adam Candeub, Michigan State (author of “Common Carriage and Section 230“)
• Anupam Chander, Georgetown
• Lori Moylan, Facebook
• Adam Thierer, Mercatus Center
• moderator Adam Kloster, GMU Gray Center

PANEL 2: “Regulatory Sandboxes” and Other Laboratories of Democracy

• Brian Knight, Mercatus Center (co-author of “The Sandbox Paradox“)
• Paul Watkins, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Remington Gregg, Public Citizen
• Kathryn Ciano Mauler
• moderator Paolo Saguato, GMU

PANEL 3: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Regulation

• David Engstrom, Stanford (co-author of “Algorithmic Accountability in the Administrative State“)
• Melissa Netram, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Catherine Sharkey, NYU

PANEL 4: Disruptive Technology and the Future of “Law”

• Jennifer Huddleston, Mercatus Center (author of “Disruptive Deference for Disruptive Technology“)
• Robert Weber, Georgia State (author of “Will the ‘Legal Singularity’ Hollow Out Law’s Normative Core?“)
• Josh Blackman, South Texas
• moderator Ross Davies, GMU

CLOSING CONVERSATION: Biotech and the FDA as a “Case Study” in Regulation & Innovation?

• Henry Miller, Pacific Research Institute (author of “Tales of Woe: How Dysfunctional Regulation Has Decimated Entire Sectors of Biotechnology“)
• Adam White, GMU Gray Center