Working on responsible technological innovation

It was curiosity that brought him to Maastricht. “I wanted to understand what drives the EU. I was looking for the kind of broad-based, international programme that didn’t exist in Germany. The curriculum immediately appealed to me. Looking back, the combination of an international perspective, a diverse student population and Problem-Based Learning taught me how to investigate complex global issues. The skills I acquired there—critical thinking, collaboration and an ability to ask the right questions—have proven invaluable throughout my career.” 

Fehlinger has fond memories of the Grote Gracht. “I spent three great years in Maastricht, a cosy, compact and hospitable city. The classes and debates were interactive and often brought students from 10 or more countries together. And I enjoyed working in groups, addressing issues together. That’s how you learn to collaborate and particularly to ask the right questions—a skill you never lose. Thanks to those dynamics and the quality of the education, I still recommend Maastricht to students today.”

After graduating, Fehlinger initially pursued his passion for journalism. He did internships at various media outlets in Berlin, including the German public broadcasters ZDF and ARD. He then worked for Radio France Internationale in Paris, where he has lived ever since. 

In Paris, Fehlinger’s career took a different turn when he was admitted to the master’s in International Relations at Sciences Po. He immersed himself in the rapidly developing internet and the challenges of cross-border governance and data flows—not exactly hot topics back in 2009. It was around this time that he met Bertrand de la Chapelle, with whom he founded the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network in 2012. Focusing on the future of the internet in times of digitisation, it has grown into an influential network with over 400 entities from more than 70 countries: international organisations, governments, the world’s largest tech companies, civil society groups and top universities. 

“We built a global platform where international heavyweights come together to find a balance between the cross-border nature of the internet and the territorial nature of national jurisdictions,” Fehlinger explains. “We organised conferences and meetings all over the world to put the issue of online jurisdiction on the global agenda. And not only that, but also topics like the digital economy, security, ethical issues, risks, human rights and privacy. What laws and regulations apply to online developments? How do they work across national borders? During all those sessions, I saw many similarities between our model of multistakeholder governance and Maastricht’s Problem-Based Learning approach, with its interdisciplinary groups. We discussed themes like whether data can only be used by the judiciary, for example in the European Union, or what major tech companies like Facebook and Google are and aren’t permitted to do.”

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