Technology and public policy program announced
 

A new technology and public policy program has been added to the LBJ School-based Policy Research Institute (PRI). Originally established in 1982 as a funding initiative for research and outreach projects related to public policy issues, PRI also includes international and urban components (see related item).

The new technology and public policy program will explore how changes in technology are altering the economic, social, and political landscape.

In discussing the importance of the new program, Dean Ed Dorn, who is the director of the PRI, listed some of the areas that could be affected by technology and public policy. These include international trade and investment, national security, health care, biomedical ethics, educational access and equity, freedom of speech and rights to privacy, the regulation of information technology-based industries, and the taxation of electronic commerce.

As part of the new program, the LBJ School offered a class during the spring semester called "Internet Technology and Economics." The class was taught by LBJ School Professor Kenneth Flamm, the new program's director, and Bill Spencer, Sematech chairman of the board. Sematech is a nonprofit semiconductor chip industry consortium located in Austin.

The two other PRI programs are directed by Professor Peter Ward (international) and Professor Robert Wilson (urban).

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