CIVICA and Google team up to empower students on digital policy

MATILDE POLLI TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AT THE CIVICA/GOOGLE POLICY SUMMER INSTITUTE WHICH SAW HER INTERN IN BRUSSELS AT THE EU STRATEGY PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONSULTANCY

This summer, the second edition of the CIVICA-Google Policy Summer Institute successfully provided students from across the CIVICA alliance with invaluable professional experience at the intersection of government affairs and digital public policy.  Eight CIVICA students from various social science disciplines participated, focusing on the topic of digital policy. The program commenced with an immersive experience week at Google's offices, offering the students valuable insights into the inner workings of Google's Government Affairs and Public Policy teams. Following the experience week, the students embarked on internships at policy agencies located in key European cities. During this period, each scholar was paired with a dedicated Google mentor, who provided invaluable support and career guidance throughout the internships, enhancing the learning experience and fostering a strong sense of professional development.

Matilde Polli, a student at Bocconi of the MSc in Economics and Management of Government & International Organizations, spent her internship in Brussels at EU Strategy, a public affairs consultancy.

“EU Strategy is a public affairs lobbying agency that Google works with to keep abreast of issues that are discussed in the European institutions on a daily basis. My main tasks involved monitoring online and offline information with respect to certain legislative proposals. So, for example, monitoring Twitter/magazines/websites so as to be able to understand what the opinions of the community, of the various parties in the committee or Parliament and of various prominent people, were,” explains Matilde. “This monitoring was necessary in order to be able to write reports to be delivered to clients. Through these reports, clients keep themselves informed and, above all, are able to understand what the development of the regulations discussed every day are. It was very interesting because it was a continuous study and analysis of what happened every day within the EU.”

The highlight of the Policy Summer Institute was the closing event, hosted online by Google, where the scholars had the opportunity to present and vote on the "Policy Challenges" they had been working on. From digital talent and skills initiatives to support for innovative healthcare tools for the elderly, from the EU AI innovation accelerator program for SMEs to empowering integration in the EU markets, participating students presented compelling and innovative solutions to the policy challenges they faced.
 
“The internship left a very good impression on me with respect to many aspects. Brussels is a great city to live in and the working environment extremely positive. In the company where I worked, there were no extremely limiting or formal hierarchical relationships, but more a collective work towards the same result,” says Matilde. “And my colleagues, although extremely young, were all knowledgeable and passionate. Finally, another positive element was the work carried out which, as I said before, was an insightful continuous study and in-depth study of relevant and very interesting topics.”




 

by CIVICA and Tomaso Eridani