HCII Seminar Series - Karina Ricks
Speaker
Karina Ricks
Partner at Cityfi Advisors
When
-
Where
Newell Simon Hall, Room 1305
Video
Panopto
Description
"Policy - Obstacle or Opportunity?"
Disruptive technology often lives in a policy grey zone - uncharted spaces where ambiguity offers opportunity to experiment, iterate, and accelerate. But as new technologies reach scale, policy inevitably catches up—often reactively, shaped more by public backlash or unintended consequences than by shared vision. To innovators, policy can seem like red tape: a drag on momentum or a risk to investment. Yet the paradox is clear—true scale and long-term viability depend on policy. Predictability, interoperability, and public trust are built not in spite of governance, but through it. This talk explores how entrepreneurs, policymakers, and civic innovators can bridge the gap between disruption and regulation—turning grey zones into growth zones. Through real-world case studies of emerging mobility, land uses, and digital infrastructure, we’ll examine strategies for proactive, co-created policy that enables innovation to flourish responsibly and sustainably.
Speaker's Bio
Karina Ricks is a Partner with the firm Cityfi Advisors, a strategic advising consultancy that works with public and private sector entities to proactively address policy, planning and product deployment in ways that advance public policy objectives to improve opportunity, quality of life and resiliency. Karina has had a long career in public service, spanning federal, state, regional and municipal levels. She has worked across a diversity of professional fields including urban planning, transportation, and economic, community and organizational development. Karina is known as a futurist, seeking to harness disruptive change for good. Among her career highlights, Karina served as Associate Administrator for Innovation with the US DOT Federal Transit Administration, established and led Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, served as Director of Transportation Planning for Washington, DC during a period of dramatic transformation, observed elections in Ukraine, was a Fulbright Scholar in Latvia and Peace Corps volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Host
Raelin Musuraca