In Conversation With…Nitya Nadgir, CITP Emerging Scholar at Princeton University

“I aways knew I wanted to make an impact in my career,” says Nitya Nadgir, who started a two-year fellowship at Princeton’s University’s Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) in 2023. Her interest in advocacy and policy started as a high school student in her hometown of New Jersey: “I got involved in as many things as possible. I was a member of the Girl Up Club which was part of United Nations Women where we advocated for women around the world, and within our school and community.”

After high school, Nitya attended Tufts University, Massachusetts with the plan to major in International Relations. However, in her sophomore year she took a course in the science, technology, and society (STS) department: “we were 4 to 10 students and would meet every week with a post-doc or a faculty facilitator to discuss books and papers on a theme within the STS field. The course made me switch majors immediately. I declared a double major in applied math and science, technology and society.

“Tufts had a heavy emphasis on an interdisciplinary education so even though I was a STEM major, I didn’t feel restricted to what I was studying. I took classes in computer science, music, anthropology, sociology, and became very involved in Tufts’ Foreign Policy organisation where we held weekly discussions, foreign policy conferences, and organized research trips. It taught me a lot about the world and policy and inspired me to pursue my interest in STS.”

Nitya then interned at Deloitte’s Government and Public Service practice for two months studying federal data privacy regulations. Nitya was delighted to discover the fellow position at CITP: “without a post graduate degree, tech policy positions are difficult to come by and CITP is one of the few programmes offering everything I was looking for: a mix of tech and policy, and it didn’t require a higher degree. It felt like the natural next step. It’s a unique programme and so far, it’s been great.”

Nitya highlights two main projects she is working on: “there’s an AI project which I collaborate on with four other colleagues. We benchmark, test and evaluate the accuracy and costs of AI agents. The second project is on biometrics and digital ID systems. I’m currently working with a mentor on studying India’s digital ID system and the implications of this tech on the rest of the world.” When asked about the risks and benefits of AI, Nitya notes: “AI is transformative in countless ways, but it reinforces a lot of inequalities that already exist through the algorithm. As it develops and becomes more extensive, we should be aware of the risks that it poses.”

Nitya acknowledges the impact of the funding from the Huo Family Foundation “I’m grateful for CITP funding fellow programmes. I have amazing mentorship that wouldn’t have been possible without the funding.” On being a woman working in the STEM sector, she adds: “In my undergraduate degree, there were more men, but I was lucky not to attend a STEM focused school, so the gender ratio wasn’t as skewed. At CITP, most of the people I have been working with are a mix of genders and the support system has been amazing.”

The Huo Family Foundation has supported the work of Princeton University’s CITP since 2018 with grants totalling $5,815,000.