In 1981, when the first IBM PC was released, there were fewer than 300 computers on the Internet. Since that time, dramatic improvements in the power and usefulness of information technology have earned it a central place in our lives. We rely on it to reach new levels of economic productivity, keep in touch with each other, interact with government, optimize our medical care, learn about world events, and even to vote. Major changes in each of these areas, brought about by information technology, are forcing leaders in government, industry, and the academy to adapt old rules to a new environment. The stakes are high: wise leadership could permit dramatic improvements in almost every area of life, and poor choices could threaten not only innovation and wealth but also privacy, safety, and trust in government.

The Center for Information Technology Policy uses Princeton’s unique strengths to help leaders react to digital technology with thoughtfulness and confidence. Combining faculty expertise in public policy, technology and engineering, and the humanities with a strong University tradition of service, the Center’s workshops, speakers and other programs seek to be a valuable resource for those who bring information technology into our lives.

Center participants come from Princeton departments including Computer Science, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Operations Research and Financial Engineering, and Sociology, and the University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The Center sponsors events such as a lecture series, workshops, conferences, and informal lunchtime discussions.

Director: Edward W. Felten,
Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs.

Associate Director: David Robinson

Executive Committee:

• Edward W. Felten, Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs
• Andrew W. Appel, Professor of Computer Science
• Paul DiMaggio, Professor of Sociology
• Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and Public Affairs

Associated Faculty:

• Michael J. Freedman, Assistant Professor of Computer Science 
• Stan Katz, Lecturer with Rank of Professor, Woodrow Wilson School
• Brian Kernighan, Professor of Computer Science
• Margaret R. Martonosi, Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Larry Peterson, Professor and Department Chair of Computer Science
• Markus Prior, Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Affairs
• Jennifer Rexford, Professor of Computer Science
• Matt Salganik, Assistant Professor of Sociology
• Ed Zschau, Visiting Lecturer with Rank of Professor, Electrical Engineering and Operation Research and Financial Engineering

The Center is sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.