Regulate Tech

Richard Allan

Between them, Richard Allan and Nicklas Berild Lundblad have over 50 years of experience in internet technology policy. And they still love talking about it. In this podcast, they dig into major technology policy questions before policy makers, teasing out the trade-offs they have to consider. They reflect on their own experiences from both sides of the business and politics divide. Some episodes are aimed at technology policy professionals as Richard and Nicklas share what they have learnt along the way. They believe there is public value in services having effective policy teams and want to help these develop, grow and, well, make new mistakes...

  1. 18 JAN

    Regulate Tech 2026:1 - Tools, Craft and Career

    In this first episode of 2026, Nicklas Berild Lundblad and Richard Allen explore how AI tools are transforming the craft of public policy. Their core argument: if you're regulating technology, you need to understand it firsthand—and the barriers to experimenting have never been lower.  The Essential Toolkit Get comfortable with the command line. Every operating system has a terminal (Command+Space then "Terminal" on Mac, search "Terminal" on Windows). Pair it with your favorite chatbot for a 30-minute crash course. This direct communication with your computer is foundational for everything else. Install an IDE. VS Code or PyCharm (both free) provide clean environments to run code. The goal isn't becoming a programmer—it's achieving code readability so you can understand and guide AI-generated code. Learn Python basics. Twenty hours of investment unlocks a career-long skill set. Focus on reading code, not writing it—LLMs handle the heavy lifting while you become the quality-control human in the loop. Run local models with Ollama. This free tool lets you download and run LLMs entirely on your machine—no API costs, no data leaving your computer. Start with small models like Tiny Dolphin, then explore Llama or Gemma. Running the same prompt hundreds of times reveals how probabilistic these systems really are. Explore GitHub. A vast repository of ready-made code. Search for whatever interests you and load it into your IDE. Key Tips Use chatbots as tutors. Stuck? Ask. The days of getting blocked by technical hurdles are over. Be blunt. Tell the chatbot directly when it's wrong. Start fresh chats to escape context traps. Start with a problem statement. Before coding, articulate exactly what you need. This forces clarity your team probably lacks. Build, don't buy. The economics have shifted. Custom internal tools—like parliamentary monitoring systems—are now cheaper and more tailored than off-the-shelf products. Research APIs first. Run a deep research query on any API before coding against it to get current documentation. The bottom line: spend a few days learning these tools and you'll understand AI technology at a level that transforms how you think about regulating it.

    1 hr

  2. 30/12/2025

    Regulate Tech - The Return!

    In 2026 Regulate Tech returns. Here we go through a few new ideas, where we are in life and what comes next. We also discuss 2025 and 2026 - and share ideas on how the new year will unfold.  Enjoy!   Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    58 min

  3. 24/10/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:8 Power

    In this episode we discuss how we should think about, analyze and understand power in tech policy. We are bad at talking about power because it is such a loaded term - but all politics, and all technology, in some way relates to the exercise of power, so we need to have a working theory of power to make sense of it all!    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    37 min

  4. 17/10/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:7 AI, technology diffusion and our future appetite

    In this episode we discuss the challenges of regulating for what is and what will be - and how to think about artificial intelligence: is it efficiency or innovation? And what should policy makers do?    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    34 min

  5. 10/10/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:6 Don't Believe the Hype

    In this episode we discuss how to approach public policy issues at different points in the Gartner hype cycle -- should you lean in to the peak of inflated expectations? Solidly make a home in the trough of disillusionment? Listen in!    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    32 min

  6. 03/10/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:5 Cyber security and policy

    In this episode we discuss the importance of cyber and information security, why it is hard to draft regulation to make a city safe, the NIS2 and the trade offs involved in security policy overall.    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    36 min

  7. 25/09/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:4 Sovereignty and trade

    How should we think about internet services in a global first world? The answer to that question is shifting fast from launch once, access everywhere to the more complex launch, comply and restrict - and ultimately maybe this has to be solved in a trade framework -- so how will that work? Will we get international standards for platforms? AI?    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    31 min

  8. 18/09/2024

    Regulate Tech 2024:3 Working with new governments - the first 100 days and more

    In this episode we discuss the special challenges that policy professionals meet as new governments are coming in, how to work with them - and how to best prepare, and when to simply stand back. What do we do a year before an election? 3 months before? During the first 100 days?    Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad

    33 min
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About

Between them, Richard Allan and Nicklas Berild Lundblad have over 50 years of experience in internet technology policy. And they still love talking about it. In this podcast, they dig into major technology policy questions before policy makers, teasing out the trade-offs they have to consider. They reflect on their own experiences from both sides of the business and politics divide. Some episodes are aimed at technology policy professionals as Richard and Nicklas share what they have learnt along the way. They believe there is public value in services having effective policy teams and want to help these develop, grow and, well, make new mistakes...

Information

  • Creator
    Richard Allan
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Regulate Tech