Sharada Srinivasan works on the 1 World Connected research initiative at the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. As part of her research, she collects empirical data from grassroots-level connectivity deployments around the world to synthesize insights from them to drive decision making. She uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the effects of Internet connectivity in underserved communities. She has conducted fieldwork in Vanuatu, Rwanda and India. She moderates the Dynamic Coalition on Innovative Approaches to Connecting the Unconnected, and led the production of the output report for the UN Internet Governance Forum's intercessional work on Connecting and Enabling the Next Billions – Phase III in 2017. She serves on the editorial committee of the EQUALS research group on the gender digital divide, is one of the leads for the IEEE Internet Inclusion Initiative’s Evidence-based Research Working Group, and contributes to the World Economic Forum’s Internet for All’s data working group. In the past, she has engaged with regulatory challenges to Internet deployment in the developing world, cybersecurity, encryption policy and network neutrality at internship stints with the Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin and the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. She was a non-resident associate fellow at the R Street Institute, where she co-authored a policy brief on expanding Internet access in India and contributed to the regulatory consultation on zero-rating. She was an Amazon fellow at the 10th UN Internet Governance Forum and a Global Internet Governance Fellow at the European Summer School of Internet Governance 2015. Sharada’s work and passion for development has taken her to over 33 countries. She mentors college students in parliamentary debating, and has attended over 75 such tournaments in the last six years. She is currently training for the Philadelphia marathon, enjoys hiking, maintains a photo blog and loves learning new skills.
