Alex Engler

@AlexCEngler

AI Policy & Civic Data Science | Senior Fellow & FulbrightSchuman Scholar | Visiting | Then back

DC - Berlin - Brussels - DC
Joined July 2011

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  1. Pinned Tweet
    Mar 19

    Some personal news! I was awarded a Fulbright-Schuman Innovation Award! For six months, I will be helping the (🇩🇪) build a new Masters in Data Science for Public Policy and also studying European AI Governance (🇧🇪)!

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  2. 8 hours ago

    I just found out that my enrollment algorithms paper was the 2nd(*) most-read(†‡) tech(§) piece from . Neato. __________________ * normalized by minutes-read † in 2021 ‡ of posts published in 2021 § thank god this excludes

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  3. 18 hours ago

    Last year, I wrote a "here's what a new digital agency could do" piece that (accurately, and very, very politely) informed me was bad. Grateful for that. The thing I wrote instead was less BROOKINGS but it didn't actually detract from the policy conversation, so

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  4. 18 hours ago

    I probably only finish 40-50% of the things I start writing, which sometimes I lament but just now I read an absolutely terrible horrible no good policy document, and I feel better about the low completion rate now It's ok to bail if you don't really have it

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  5. Dec 16

    I might mean the "once only" principle - meaning you only ever collect a data point from a citizen once, then it is shared if necessary across govt agencies. Possible that "ask once" is rly a different thing for single point of contact for govt services.

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  6. Dec 16

    This isn't an important enough reason not to do it, but it occurs to me that the "Ask Once" model of digital services really raises the stakes of that "ask", since all resulting data use (often, there's lots) will be contingent on the specifics of that form/question/contact.

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  7. Retweeted

    I'm delighted to share some exciting news. A new campaign for proportional representation in the United States is underway. Check us out at . Sign up for updates Tell your friends. It's a dark time, but a better democracy is possible.

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  8. Retweeted
    Dec 15

    Today, the is re-launching its whistleblower website based on user research with people in the tech industry. Submissions will be reviewed by technologists, investigators, and attorneys. Learn more:

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  9. Retweeted
    Dec 13

    Lee Wilkinson is the reason that ggplot2 exists; not just because he wrote the Grammar of Graphics, but also because he was so kind and supportive to me when I was a young grad student thinking of trying to implement it. He will be missed.

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  10. Retweeted
    Dec 10

    “The Commission is considering initiating a rulemaking under section 18 of the FTC Act to curb lax security practices, limit privacy abuses, and ensure that algorithmic decision-making does not result in unlawful discrimination.” !!

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  11. Retweeted
    Dec 10

    Transition of power. German style.

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  12. Dec 9

    I also doubt IRPDA prescribes other interventions. Rather, I expect it to help govts make specific & effective interventions. This is especially true for online speech (relative to online markets) where governments getting data access is more troubling.

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  13. Dec 9

    I'm aware of privacy issues (imo manageable) and that people didn't sign up to get studied, but I don't think just not studying platforms is a real option. The question is really -who- studies them So far, mostly companies, mostly privately. How's that going?

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  14. Dec 9

    Without getting into the specifics, that Congress is considering independent researcher platform data access (IRPDA... sure) is a good thing. Many well-intended criticisms of IRPDA going around, but I haven't found them compelling.

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  15. Dec 9

    One fun part of writing about the same topic for a while is being able to just link to your past self and move on

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  16. Retweeted
    Dec 9

    Roughly 31% of employees in the US workforce have either no or limited digital skills, reports : Related research:

    graph showing digital skills by age
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  17. Retweeted

    In 2018 the blockchain/decentralization story fell apart. For example, a study of 43 use cases found a 0% success rate. Let's talk about some mistaken assumptions about decentralization that led to the blockchain hype, and what we can learn from them.

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  18. Retweeted
    Dec 8

    reporters stop reporting the defense budget in single year spending totals and social spending in 10 year spending totals challenge

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  19. Dec 8

    Oohhh this is promising - I was just opining that support for anti-surveillance/authoritarian technologies is hugely underfunded.

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  20. Retweeted
    Dec 8

    New: Did you know your name, address, SSN and other details from your phone, water, cable, power and utility bills were being sold for use by government agencies, private investigators and the police? That's changing. A data industry "out of control":

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  21. Dec 8

    He also finished a book this year "Public Policy Analytics: Code & Context for Data Science in Government," available online: He did all this while battling a rare cancer for the past seven years. A genuine and committed public servant. Rest in Peace Ken

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