Susan Ariel Aaronson
Susan Ariel Aaronson
Research Professor; Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub
Research Faculty
Contact:
1957 E St. NW, Office #403O
Washington, D.C. 20052
Susan Ariel Aaronson is Research Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University (GWU). Aaronson is also co-principal investigator with the NSF -NIST (National Science Foundation and (National Institute of Standards and Technology Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society, TRAILS, where she leads research on data and AI governance. Aaronson is also named one of GWU's Public Interest Technology Scholars, where she works to encourage interdisciplinary research on technology in the public interest.
Aaronson is a Senior Fellow at the think tank CIGI in Canada and a Balsilie Scholar in Canada.
Susan is also director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub at GWU. The Hub was founded in 2019 and educates policy makers, the press and the public about data governance and data-driven change through conferences, webinars, study groups, primers and scholarly papers. It is the only organization in the world that maps the governance of public, proprietary and personal data at the domestic and international levels. The Hub is currently updating its metric to reflect the changes to data governance wrought by AI. The Hub’s research has been funded by foundations such as Ford and Minderoo. Susan currently directs projects on responsible AI; national security and the free flow of data; participatory AI; AI and trade and AI protectionism. Ahe regularly writes op-eds for Barron’s and Fortune, and was a commentator on economics for NPR’s Marketplace, All Things Considered and Morning Edition, and for NBC, CNN, the BBC and PBS.
international trade, data governance, human rights, AI, XR and other data driven technologies
GWU Public Interest Technology Scholar-2024
GWU Cross-Disciplinary Scholar-2017
What is AI protectionism?
How can we create more accurate, complete and globally representative datasets?
What is the relationship between AI and XR?
Are open source variants of AI more trustworthy because they create a feedback loop among participants?
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
HIST 6031 History of International Economic Systems: the WTO and the Bretton Woods Institutions
IAFF 6198 Special Topics in International Trade and Investment Policy
- Trade Issues and Strategies
- Digital Trade and Global Governance Issues
- Corruption, Development and Good Governance
Book Chapters
Trade agreements and disinformation, Chapter in Global Digital Data Governance Polycentric Perspectives, Edited By Carolina Aguerre, Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn, Jan Aart Scholte Routledge, Copyright 2024.
Peer-reviewed Scholarly Articles
The Pitfalls of AI Nationalism, AI Sovereignty and Beggar- thy-Neighbor Policies, in process, Journal of World Trade, 59: 3, June 2025.
Building trust in digital trade will require a rethink of Trade policy-making, Oxford Review of Economic Policy Dec, 2022 Vol 38, No. 4.
Building trust in digital trade will require a rethink of trade policy-making, Oxford International Review, forthcoming.
What Are We Talking About When We Discuss Digital Protectionism?, World Trade Review: 2018 (Winter)
Policy Briefs and Working Papers
Talking to a Brick Wall: The US Government’s Response to Public Comments on AI, CIGI Paper No. 319
A Dysfunctional Dialogue About AI—NTIA and the Public on The Risks and Benefits of Open Foundation Models, March, CIGI,
The Age of AI Nationalism and its Effects, CIGI, September 30, 2024, https://www.cigionline.org/publications/the-age-of-ai-nationalism-and-its-effects/
Data Disquiet: The Inadequacies of Data Governance for Large Learning Models, CIGI, March 2024; https://www.cigionline.org/publications/data-disquiet/
With Adam Zable, Facing Reality: Canada Needs to think about Extended Reality and AI, March 1, 2024.
With Adam Zable, Missing Persons: The Case of National AI Strategies, CIGI Paper No. 283, https://www.cigionline.org/publications/missing-persons-the-case-of-national-ai-strategies/
With Adam Zable, Missing Persons: The Case of National AI Strategies, CIGI Paper No. 283, https://www.cigionline.org/publications/missing-persons-the-case-of-national-ai-strategies/
Wicked Problems Might Inspire Greater Data Sharing, March 28, 2023, CIGI
Building Trust in AI: A Landscape Analysis of Government AI Programs, March 6, 2023.
A Lost Opportunity to Build Trust in AI, OECD.AI, forthcoming CIGI
A Future Built on Data: Data Strategies, Competitive Advantage, and Trust, CIGI Paper No. 266, June 9, 2022.
Listening to Users and Other Ideas for Building Trust in Digital Trade, CIGI Paper No. 258, September 21, 2021.
Could Trade Agreements Help Address the Wicked Problem of Cross-Border Disinformation?, CIGI Paper No. 255, July 25, 2021.
with Thomas Struett, Data is Divisive: A History of Public Communications on E-Commerce, 1998-2020, CIGI Paper No. 247, December 2020.
Data is Dangerous: Comparing the Risks that the United States, Canada and Germany See in Data Troves, CIGI Papers No. 241, April 2020.
Op Eds
Biden's New AI Policy Falls Short on a Key Problem, Barron’s
A New Approach to Digital Public Goods Is Gaining Steam, Barron’s
Weak Data Protection Puts National Security at Risk, Barron’s, August 12, 2020,
Why we Need a Wicked Problems Agency, The Hill, 7/13/2020