The Nebraska Governance and Technology Center is hosting a university community conference on state-level issues in technology, regulation and economic development on April 22. The conference will be led by Gus Hurwitz, director of the center.

This event is the first in a new initiative to work with regional policy makers, enforcement officials and academics to study the relationship between technology, regulation and economic development at the state and local level.

Over the past decade the technology industry — especially the part of it thought of as “Big Tech”— has gone from being widely viewed with favor, to being a political target. At both the federal and state level, legislators and regulators are trying to pass laws and use litigation to constrain Big Tech.

This conference will explore big picture forces driving this change in regulatory attitudes. From there, it will take a deeper look at on the ground issues that are likely more to individuals and businesses within the states. Issues include understanding the range of attitudes that citizens and consumers have about technology, the specific concerns driving those attitudes about different types of technology, and the effects that regulation can have on technological innovation.

The discussion will feature a lunchtime keynote address by Doug Peterson, Nebraska attorney general, who has been a leader in state antitrust and consumer protection efforts relating to the technology sector. The morning will start with a keynote presentation from Shannon McGregor, assistant professor of journalism and media at the University of North Carolina. She will share insights from a recent large-scale Knight and Gallup study of Americans’ views on the digital public square.

Registration and additional details are available online.