The Digital Policy Institute (DPI) was created in 2004 and serves as a catalyst for research, education, and reasoned decision making on issues relevant to digital media. The Institute fosters a mutually-beneficial relationship among faculty and other professionals of various disciplines. Its primary activities include:
- Promoting the active participation and involvement of Ball State faculty in public policy research related to the Information Age
- Serving as a vehicle to support research in the areas of law, regulation, economics, and technology as they relate to public policy issues of local, state, and national interest
- Establishing a collegial environment that will foster critical thinking across disciplines on national public policy issues
- Promoting student involvement in timely public policy research at the graduate and undergraduate levels and across various disciplines
DPI hosts symposia, workshops, and round tables on current, highly relevant issues involving digital media. By addressing the issues behind, for example, intellectual property, DPI raises the level of awareness as to what constitutes intellectual property theft, rationalizations about it, and models for protecting digital rights. DPI Fellows frequently are called upon to comment on current issues in digital policy. Members are quoted by local, state, national, and international media. Fellows have provided testimony in policy making decisions at state and federal levels and have conducted workshops for state regulators, spoken at national conferences and industry conventions.
The Institute focuses on myriad issues of digital communications policy such as copyright and trademark infringement, spectrum use, broadband deployment, online privacy, and wide-ranging aspects of federal and state communications law and policy. DPI research is made available publicly through its website, policy papers, op-eds, national webinars, and other platforms.
DPI serves as a neutral entity on issues, allowing the presentation and consideration of all sides. DPI presents government regulators, policy makers, and industry leaders with information enabling the adoption of educated decision making.