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On Monday February 9, 2026 the Internet Education Foundation presented the 2026 State of the Net (SOTN) conference in Washington DC.
Annually attracting over 600 attendees, the State of the Net Conference provides unparalleled opportunities to network and engage on key policy issues. It is also the only Internet policy conference with over 50 percent of Congressional staff and government policymakers in attendance, making it the perfect setting to explore important, emerging trends.
AGENDA https://sotn26.sched.com/
PLENARY + BREAKOUT 1
P-1 – Welcome / Introductions
Tim Lordan – Executive Director, Internet Education Foundation
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P-2 – Keynote with Arpan Sura
Arpan Sura – Senior Counsel and Chief AI Officer, Federal Communications Commission
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P-3 – Fireside Chat with Congresswoman April McClain Delaney
The Honorable April McClain Delaney – Representative of Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives
Patience Haggin – Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
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P-4 – Keynote with Commissioner Anna Gomez
The Honorable Anna Gomez – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
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1-1 – 30 for 30: 30 Years of Broadband Competition, 30 Years of What’s Next
Evan Swarztrauber – Senior Fellow, Foundation for American Innovation
David Don – Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Comcast
Blair Levin – Policy Analyst, New Street Research
Christopher Lewis – President & CEO, Public Knowledge
Moderator: Kelcee Griffis – Telecom Reporter, Bloomberg News
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1-2 – The Future of AI Infrastructure: Affordably Securing Energy for Innovation
Lindsey Baxter Griffith – Chief Executive Officer, Clean Tomorrow
Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice
Tanya Das – Vice President of Strategy, Dataerai
Marsden Hanna – Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy, Google
Moderator: Rebecca Kern – Senior Correspondent, The Capitol Forum
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P-5 – Keynote with Cory Gardner
The Honorable Cory Gardner – President & CEO, NCTA
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P-6 – Keynote with Commissioner Olivia Trusty
The Honorable Olivia Trusty – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
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P-7 – Fireside Chat with Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling
The Honorable Keith Sonderling – Deputy Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor
Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice
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1-3 – Verifying the Future: The Paxton Decision, Age Assurance, and the Next Phase of Online Safety
Ariel Fox Johnson – Senior Advisor, Common Sense Media
Sarah Scheffler – Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Jessica Melugin – Director, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Jon Schweppe – Senior Advisor, American Principles Project
Moderator: Ashley Gold – Senior Tech Policy Reporter, Axios
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P-8 – Fireside Chat with Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth
The Honorable Arielle Roth – Administrator, National Information and Telecommunications Administration
Moderator: Daniel Lyons – Professor, Boston College Law School
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P-9 – Fireside Chat with Senator Scott Wiener
Senator Scott Wiener – Senator for Senate District 11, California State Senate
Makena Kelly – Senior Writer, WIRED
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P-10 – Wrap Up
Shane Tews – Internet Education Foundation
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BREAKOUT 2
2-1 – Hitting Refresh on Cybersecurity to Address Emerging Technologies
Camille Stewart Gloster – CEO and Founder, CAS Strategies, LLC
James Lewis – Distinguished Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis
Michael Daniel – President & CEO, Cyber Threat Alliance
Rob Knake – CEO, TPO Group
Moderator: Shane Tews – President, Logan Circle Strategies
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2-2 – Making BEAD a Success To Connect All Americans
Nicol Turner Lee – Senior Fellow, Governance Studies and Director, Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution
Lyndsay Moyer – Vice President, State Government Affairs, Comcast
Paul Garnett – Founder and CEO, Vernonburg Group
Joseph Wender – Executive Director, SHLB Coalition
Moderator: Chris Teale – Managing Editor, Route Fifty
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2-3 – Sovereign AI and the New Internet Order: Governing Intelligence Across Borders
Kellee Wicker – Vice President of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Space, Meridian International Center
Caitlin Clarke – Senior Director for Cybersecurity Services, Venable LLP
Morgan Reed – President, ACT | The App Association
Adrian Shahbaz – Vice President, Research and Analysis, Freedom House
Moderator: Nancy Scola – Journalist
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BREAKOUT 3
3-1 – Chatting with Machines: Mental Health, AI Companions, and the New Psychology of Connection
Amina Fazlullah – Head of Tech Policy Advocacy, Common Sense Media
Amanda Lenhart – Senior Fellow, Joan Ganz Cooney Center
Adam Thierer – Senior Fellow, R Street Institute
Shae Gardner – Director of Policy and Research, LGBT Tech
Moderator: Amrith Ramkumar – Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
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3-2 – AI Liability: Who’s Responsible When Machines Act?
Tod Cohen – Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
Helen Toner – Interim Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Neil Chilson – Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Aaron Rieke – Senior Partner, Clarion AI Partners
Moderator: Miranda Bogen – Director, AI Governance Lab, Center for Democracy & Technology
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3-3 – The New Frontiers of Speech
Ashkhen Kazaryan – Senior Legal Fellow, Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University
Corbin Barthold – Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom
Joel Thayer – President, Digital Progress Institute
Moderator: Luke Hogg – Director of Policy and Outreach, Foundation for American Innovation
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LIGHTNING TALKS
L-01 – The Missing Network Layer: Why AI Needs Its Own ARPANET Moment
Andrew Trask – Executive Director, OpenMined
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L-02 – Time to Prove We’re Human
Nick Pickles – Chief Policy Officer, Tools for Humanity
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L-03 – The State of the Open Web
Stan Adams – Lead Public Policy Specialist, Wikimedia Foundation
Lila Bailey – Senior Policy Counsel, Internet Archive
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L-04 – Open Sourcing Safety: Why The Internet Needs Shared Tools, Not Silos
Naren Koneru – Vice President of Engineering, Roblox
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L-05 – Lightning Talks Session 1 Q&A
Andrew Trask – OpenMined
Nick Pickles – Tools for Humanity
Stan Adams – Wikimedia Foundation
Lila Bailey – Internet Archive
Naren Koneru – Roblox
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L-06 – From Research Labs to Policy Agendas
Jeremy Epstein – Co-Director, Institute for Cybersecurity and Resilient Infrastructure Studies, Georgia Tech
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L-07 – A Proactive Response to AI-Driven Job Displacement
Revana Sharfuddin – Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University
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L-08 – What’s the Value of Privacy? A New Approach to Regulating Data
Sydney Saubestre – Senior Policy Analyst, Open Technology Institute, New America
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L-09 – Cybersecurity for AI that Acts: Agents and Vulnerability Management
Heather West – Senior Director, Cybersecurity and Privacy Services, Venable LLP
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L-10 – AI Memory as a Governance Surface: Prioritizing User Privacy and Control
Ruchika Joshi – AI Governance Fellow, Center for Democracy & Technology
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L-11 – Lightning Talks Session 2 Q&A
Jeremy Epstein – Georgia Tech
Revana Sharfuddin – Mercatus Center
Sydney Saubestre – New America
Heather West – Venable LLP
Ruchika Joshi – Center for Democracy & Technology
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L-12 – Defining Technologies: Which Definition of AI Should Policymakers Use?
Nicholas Garcia – Senior Policy Counsel, Public Knowledge
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L-13 – Why 7 GHz Spectrum Matters for the Future of Wi-Fi
Rikin Thakker – Chief Technology Officer, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association
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L-14 – What 6G Should Be: Ubiquitous and Seamless Connectivity, Not Just Another ‘G’
Michael Calabrese – Director, Wireless Future at New America
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L-15 – The Hidden Regulators: Public Utility Commissions and AI Governance
Scott Babwah Brennen – Director of the Center on Technology Policy, New York University
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L-16 – Balancing Privacy and Power: How Data Governance Will Shape AI’s Future
Lauren Culbertson Grieco – President, The Ledyard Group
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L-17 – Lightning Talks Session 3 Q&A
Nicholas Garcia – Public Knowledge
Rikin Thakker – NCTA
Michael Calabrese – New America
Scott Babwah Brennen – NYU
Lauren Culbertson Grieco – The Ledyard Group
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#SOTN2026 #TechPolicy