Bio
With his background in policy entrepreneurship and organizational leadership, Paul Fehlinger advances responsible innovation at the intersection of policy, norms, new technologies, entrepreneurship and venture capital.
He is the inaugural director of policy, governance innovation and impact at Project Liberty’s Institute for responsible innovation and ethical governance of emerging and disruptive technologies. There, he builds global multi-stakeholder initiatives spanning intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), governments, major companies, entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, civil society and academia, leveraging partnerships with Stanford University, Georgetown University and Sciences Po, as well as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He specialized in entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems, venture capital investment and the responsible use of technologies as an affiliate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center.
Between 2011 and 2022, he co-founded and co-led the leading global multi-stakeholder organization for how laws apply to cross-border data flows and services, the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network. It engaged more than 400 key entities spanning governments, IGOs, the world’s largest tech companies, civil society groups and top universities in more than 70 countries and was formally endorsed by organizations such as the Group of Seven (G7), the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
His comments on the future of the global digital economy have been featured by The Economist, The New York Times, Fortune, Politico, Euronews, Slate and Die Zeit, as well as by the Council on Foreign Relations, Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report and Oxford University Press.
Paul is a moderator or speaker at international institutions around the world, such as the United Nations, OECD, the European Union, the G7 and the World Trade Organization. He has been appointed to advisory groups by the Global Commission on Internet Governance, the Council of Europe, the Freedom Online Coalition and the World Economic Forum.
He is an alumnus of the Newton Venture Program, a joint venture of London Business School and LocalGlobe VC, and a senior fellow at the Hertie School of Governance. Paul holds a master’s degree in international relations from Sciences Po Paris and was awarded a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung). He holds a B.A. in European studies from Maastricht University.