Explain to Shane

In an era when civic literacy is at concerning lows, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate’s Senate Immersion Module (SIM) is revolutionizing civic education by transforming students into senators for a day, complete with an innovative AI policy simulation. What can experiential learning reveal about students’ capacity to engage with complex policy issues? And how does incorporating emerging topics like AI regulation into civic education help students conceptualize real-world policy challenges?

Joining us from the SIM are Adam Hinds, Michael Champigny, and Will Foster-Nolan. Adam is the CEO of the Kennedy Institute. He served as a Massachusetts state senator from 2017 to 2022, chairing the Joint Committee on Revenue and leading post-COVID rebuilding efforts. Michael is the senior associate for curriculum and content at the Kennedy Institute, and Will is the senior manager of education programs at the Kennedy Institute.

What separates the companies that successfully pivot from those that become cautionary tales in business history? How do government regulations either foster or hinder innovation in today’s tech landscape? And what can business leaders learn from the countless pivots that shaped America’s tech dominance?

Joining me to address these questions, which he unpacked in his new book, Pivot or Die: How Leaders Thrive When Everything Changes, is Gary Shapiro. Gary is an author, a lobbyist, and the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which represents over 1,300 consumer technology companies.

How is technology revolutionizing access to capital for small businesses? What challenges do these businesses face in securing funding? And what broader role does technology play in improving their access to capital?

On the latest episode of Explain to Shane, Shane interviews Anthony Matos, CEO and cofounder of Shubox, a platform designed to help small businesses access capital through the innovative use of data and AI. They discuss how innovative platforms like Shubox leverage AI and alternative data to streamline the lending process, provide valuable insights into business health, and ultimately help small businesses access the capital they need to grow.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, passed by Congress three years ago, set out to close the digital divide by bringing broadband to unserved and underserved communities. Yet despite the ambitious goal of getting all Americans online, progress has been slow. As of September 17, serious delays continue to plague the initiative, with 13 states still waiting for the NTIA to approve their initial proposals. These delays jeopardize the program’s effectiveness and risk leaving millions of Americans without access to essential digital infrastructure.

Here to sort through the mess are two members of AEI’s Broadband Barometer Project, Janice Hauge and Mark Jamison. Janice is a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of North Texas, where she works on broadband policy and regulation in the telecommunications and broadband industry. Mark is a nonresident senior fellow at AEI where he focuses on technology’s impact on the economy, telecommunications, and Federal Communications Commission issues. He is concurrently the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries, companies are grappling with the challenges of effectively leveraging AI tools. From data readiness to privacy concerns, the path to successful AI implementation is fraught with complexities. Yet, the potential benefits - from revolutionizing healthcare to enhancing our daily interactions with technology - are too significant to ignore.

Here to shed light on these pressing questions is Mark Johnson, co-founder of Michigan Software Labs. With extensive experience in AI consulting, Mark brings valuable insights into the strategies companies are employing to harness the power of AI while addressing its challenges.

Join us as we explore the future of AI integration, the potential of brain-computer interfaces, and the delicate balance between innovation and privacy in the age of artificial intelligence.

Recent child online safety bills have ignited a firestorm of controversy. These emotionally charged proposals aim to shield children from online harm, but they've raised serious concerns about potential infringement of First Amendment rights. The current legislative landscape remains uncertain, with various bills at different stages across states and at the federal level.

How do we balance the urgent need to protect children with our fundamental rights to free speech? What are the practical implications of proposed age-gating measures? And where do we draw the line between parental responsibility and government intervention?

To discuss these challenges and concerns surrounding age-gating on the internet, we're joined by Ari Cohn. Ari serves as Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom. Prior to this role, he was the director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and served as an attorney with the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Join us as we explore age gating, parents' roles in keeping their kids safe, and the current state of child online safety legislation.

Our government grapples with challenges that demand quick solutions and decisive action. However, the government structure often lacks the necessary incentives to drive innovation. This is where Arun Gupta comes in, emphasizing the importance of a renewed partnership between government and entrepreneurs to tackle major societal issues.

Arun is the author of Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society. He is also CEO of NobleReach Foundation, a venture capitalist, a lecturer at Stanford University, and an adjunct entrepreneurship professor and senior advisor to the provost at Georgetown University.

Tune in as Arun shares insights from his book and discusses the intersection of government, entrepreneurship, and academia.

As the US pushes for a TikTok ban and the EU leads the way in data privacy regulation, experts warn that overly restrictive policies might inadvertently stifle innovation and economic growth. But how do we strike the right balance? What role does data play in shaping our society? How do we categorize and classify the information we generate daily? And what challenges do policymakers face in regulating data?

In this timely episode of "Explain to Shane," we dive into the critical intersection of data and society. Shane interviews Cristina Alaimo and Jannis Kallinikos, co-authors of DATA RULES: Reinventing the Market Economy. Cristina is an Assistant Professor in Digital Economy and Society at LUISS University, in Rome, Italy and Jannis is a Full Professor of Information Systems at LUISS Business School.

Is technology really addictive, or is that just another myth? What hidden benefits of AI are we overlooking? And how will the landscape of innovation shift as lawmakers tighten the reins of regulation?

In this episode, Shane interviews Robert Atkinson and David Moschella, co-authors of Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today's Innovation Economy. Robert is president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and author of numerous books on innovation economics and technology. David is a nonresident senior fellow at ITIF. Before joining ITIF, he was a research fellow at Leading Edge Forum where he explored digital technologies’ impact on business.

Tune in as we dispel leading, and sometimes harmful, myths about technology today.

NTIA is championing Route Origin Authorizations or ROA’s as part of the Biden Administration’s cybersecurity plan to fend off nation-state hackers and cyberattacks.

In tandem with this effort, on June 6, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advanced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at strengthening internet security through the implementation of border gateway protocols (BGPs) for internet service providers (ISPs). While the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) already encourages federal agencies to embrace these routing security protocols, the FCC's proposed rule would mandate broadband providers to submit confidential reports on their BGP usage.

This move is an effort to defend against cyber-attacks by validating the legitimacy of websites and securing web traffic, preventing hackers from spoofing government domains, stealing data, and hijacking critical communications.

Here to discuss the policy behind this decision, including routing security, BGPs, and efforts to secure government infrastructure, are Grace Abuhamad and Robert (Bob) Cannon. Grace is the chief of staff at the NTIA, where she previously served as a policy analyst in the Office of International Affairs. Bob is a Senior Telecommunications Policy Analyst at the NTIA. Before joining NTIA, he was a Senior Attorney at the FCC's Office of Policy Analysis.