Title: Tech+Policy Scholarship BoF - Learnings from GCPP and Beyond
Key Focus: Share public policy journeys from scholars who have done the Tech+Policy course on the FOSS United scholarship
Brief:
It’s been almost 3 years that FOSS United has been running the Technology+Policy scholarship. This gives selected scholars 80% of the course fee to do the 4 month duration Technology and Policy specialization of GCPP (Graduate Certification in Public Policy) offered by The Takshashila Institution. More than 40 scholars have been selected under this.
The course consists of two parts - roughly split between generic public policy concepts, and a “specialization” part, which in this case is the “Technology and Policy” aspect. GCPP encourages and incentivizes folks to engage policy makers in many ways - ranging from writing, podcasts, videos, and getting folks to interact with a wide range of people involved in policies. Beyond this, various Takshashila networks and events are a good platform to continue the journey beyond just the course.
While FOSS United famously doesn’t expect anything back from the scholars, it would be good to understand what the outcomes of this have been, seen from the perspective of the various participants.
Discussion prompts:
This is structured as a Birds of a Feather session to allow for a free form exchange of views. GCPP scholars can share their public policy journey, their learning, anecdotes, what worked, what could be improved and any thoughts about the future. GCPP faculty may also share their views on the impact of the scholarship.
Discussion Format: round table, with participants sharing their thoughts. Onlookers (see below) may pose questions too.
Other benefits: This BOF session is likely to be useful for curious onlookers as well as people seriously considering doing this course at some point in time.
Note: Scanning through the list of scholars, I can see that more than ten of the past GCPP scholars will be attending IndiaFOSS 2025. For better awareness and participation, we could pull out the list of all scholars and let them know this is happening.