Summary

Hans K. Klein is Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology ("Georgia Tech", located in Atlanta.)

His main area of research is Internet governance, especially as its relates to globalization. He also studies community media, especially public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access television, and political organizing using the Internet. Other research interests include US technology policy for large technical systems and theories of the social construction of technology.

Klein directs Georgia Tech's Internet and Public Policy Project (IP3). He is a partner in the Internet Governance Project, a collaboration with Syracuse University. He formerly chaired the board of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and led its activities in Internet governance. Much of his policy research has an applied dimension, and he has worked with such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the City of Atlanta, and Atlanta's WRFG community radio station.

Klein received a Ph.D. from MIT in 1996 in Political Science, an M.S. from MIT in 1993 in Technology and Policy, and a B.S.E. in 1983 from Princeton University in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He has also studied at the Technical University of Munich and was a visiting researcher at the Ecole des Mines in Paris.

Before pursuing an academic career Klein worked in the European software industry from 1983-1988, working for Siemens (Munich), Schlumberger (Paris), and Olivetti (Milan).

 

Policy Activities

Director, Internet and Public Policy Project (IP3) of Georgia Tech.

Co-founder, Internet Governance Project, a joint project with researchers from Syracuse University.

Member, Atlanta Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee (TelePAC) (2004-2005). TelePAC was a policy advisory committee to the City of Atlanta on matters of telecommunications. Service included chairing the sub-committee on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access television.

Chairman of the Board/Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) (1995-2003). While at CPSR, initiated and ran the Civil Society Democracy Project (CivSoc), which was a joint project of IP3 and CPSR that worked on issues in Internet governance relating to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  The project was funded by the Open Society Institute/Soros Foundation (OSI) in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). The archives of CivSoc's works, including the The Cyber-Federalist newsletter are here.

Program Co-Chair, INET-2002, (annual meeting of the Internet Society) "Internet Crossroads: Where Technology and Policy Intersect." (Arlington, VA).

Expert Testimony, Social Security Administration Hearings on Privacy (Atlanta, June 1997).
Following a public outcry after it made tax records accessible over the Internet, the Social Security Administration held public hearings to learn how to better ensure taxpayer privacy.

Expert Witness, ACLU of Georgia v. Miller (Atlanta, January 1997).
Gave testimony in federal court on the implications of a Georgia law forbidding anonymous communications on computer networks.  The law was subsequently overturned.

Academics

Research Publications

"ICANN Reform: Establishing the Rule of Law," policy analysis prepared for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), 3 November 2005.

"Reinventing Public, Educational, Governmental (PEG) Access Television in Atlanta," in Final Report of Atlanta Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee (TelePAC). 29 June 2005. (With Beverly Molander.)

"The Right to Political Participation" in Rikke Frank Joergensen and William Drake, eds., Human Rights in the Global Information Society (MIT Press, 2006).

"Understanding WSIS: An Institutional Analysis of the UN World Summit on the Information Society," Information Technology and International Development, "Special Issue on WSIS." MIT Press, Vol.1, No. 3-4, Spring-Summer 2005, pp. 3-13.

"Working with the Resources at Hand: Constraints on Internet Institutional Design," Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3, September 2004, 403-410.

"Technology, Contracts, and the Internet: Private Governance for Global Communications," in The Emergent Global Information Policy Regime, Sandra Braman, ed., (New York: Palgrave, 2003).

"ICANN and Internet Governance: Leveraging Technical Coordination to Make Global Public Policy," The Information Society, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2002, 193-207.

"ICANN et la gouvernance d'Internet: la coordination technique comme levier d'une politique publique mondiale," Les cahiers du numerique, Vol. 3, No. 2, September 2002, 93-128.

"Global Democracy and the ICANN Elections" info, Vol. 3, No.2, August 2001.

"The Feasibility of Global Democracy: Understanding ICANN's At-large Elections," info, Vol. 3, No.2, August 2001.

"Online Social Movements and Internet Governance" Peace Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, September 2001, 403-410.

"Tocqueville in Cyberspace: Using the Internet for Citizen Associations," in The Information Society, Vol. 15, No. 4, November 1999, 213-220.

"The Social Construction of Technology: Structural Considerations," in Science Technology & Human Values, Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2002, 28-52. (Co-authored with Daniel Kleinman.)


"Technology Push-over: How Defense Downturns Stimulate Civilian Technology Policy," in Research Policy, Vol. 30, No. 6, 2001, 937-951


"System Development in the Federal Government: How Technology Influences Outcomes," in Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2000, 313-328.

"The Montgomery County Advanced Transportation Management System," in Intelligent Transportation Systems: Cases and Policies, Roger Stough, ed. (Edward Elgar Press, 2001).

"Market Deployment of Transportation/Information Infrastructure: Siemens' European Strategy," in Converging Infrastructures: Intelligent Transportation Systems and the National Information Infrastructure, Lewis Branscomb and James Keller, eds., (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996). (Co-authored with Joseph Sussman.)

"Making It Happen Now: Realizing the Potential of Community Television and Radio," Peace Review, special issue on Media and Democratic Action, Volume 11, No. 1, March 1999, pp. 41-52.

Teaching

The Contemporary Enlightenment (Science, Technology & Human Values)(PDF)

Internet and Public Policy (PDF)

The Development of Large-Scale Socio-Technical Systems (PDF)

The Government of the United States

Senior Thesis Seminar for Independent Research

Professional and Public Service

Guest Editor, Research Policy.  Special issue on technology policy in the U.S. and the European Union (2000).

Faculty Advisor, WREK (1997-2004).   Assist Georgia Tech's student-run radio station.  One of the best alternative radio stations in the United States!

Conference Chair, Civilian Technology Policy in the European Union and The United States: Recent Experiences and New Directions.  Co-sponsored by the the European Union Center of the University System of Georgia. Atlanta, April, 1999.

Guest Editor, Community Media Review (journal of the Alliance for Community Media.)  Edited special issue on “Promoting a Progressive Mass Media,” Spring 1996.

Member, Board of Directors, Cambridge Community Television.  Public access television station of Cambridge, Massachusetts. (1994-95).
 
 

Contact

      Hans K. Klein
      School of Public Policy, MC:0345
      Georgia Institute of Technology
      Atlanta, GA 30332-0345
      USA
      Tel:  1-404-894-2258
      Fax: 1-404-894-0535
      Email: Available on my Georgia Tech personal home page.

Information for the Media

Press Photo (1.3Mb)

To obtain Prof. Klein's cell phone number, call the School of Public Policy main office: +1 404-894-2258

This page last updated:21 September 2005.