Sam Blakeslee's think tank yields solutions

Two years since its founding, a civic-minded think tank started by former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee has raised millions of dollars for its ventures and plans to produce tangible results on three major projects this year.

The nonpartisan Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy housed at Cal Poly is in the midst of implementing the first phases of three programs that aim to tackle large problems facing society.

They are the following:

Although the institute is housed at Cal Poly, it doesn’t receive any state funds to operate.

The open-government project received a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The tablet-related education initiative received a combination of philanthropic donations and foundation money. The wave-energy project received a U.S. Department of Energy grant.

From its office space within the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics, the institute works with Cal Poly faculty and students, who help design prototypes, write software and coordinate projects.

“Cal Poly has tremendous strength in the field in which we specialize, which is advanced technology,” Blakeslee said.

Blakeslee said the difference between his think tank and many others is that the work results in practical, hands-on products instead of simply generating theoretical ideas.

Blakeslee’s vision was to bring together policymakers, technology specialists and academics to create the projects.

A fellowship program also offers part-time work for Cal Poly students who participate in the development of the projects.

The participating faculty members include Jose Navarro, an assistant professor in English, who is helping produce the tablet system for English learners that will provide school materials, e-books and interactive exercises for parents.

The tablet will have applications that help Spanish-speaking parents assist their children with their homework. It will also include presentations from Univision television personalities and even feature family support programs such as personal financial tips.

The tablets will be used as part of a pilot program in Salinas, a farming community with a large Spanish-speaking population.

Cal Poly computer science professor Foaad Khosmood recently displayed some of the features of the portal system that will track state government meetings and votes.

Khosmood said the system will comprehensively identify government information using artificial intelligence to retrieve transcripts and videos on hearings and meetings relating to homelessness, water, budgets and infrastructure, among a host of other California topics. 

“These are videos and transcripts that we’ve set up that didn’t exist before,” Khosmood said. “… The students working on this are high caliber who could easily get jobs anywhere.”

The prototype has even gathered information on lobbyists that will be accessible to the public.

Blakeslee said part of his goal with the program was to create transparency, greater public access and a public record.

“I would see politicians go back to their district, to their local Rotary Club, to their local newspaper, and make all sorts of pronouncements about what they believe and how they vote, and they’d go back to their committee and vote the exact opposite,” Blakeslee said. “Everyone knew that nobody was watching.”

Blakeslee said the announcement about details of the California wave-energy research will take place in the summer, noting that wave energy has been an intriguing political issue  nationwide with potential benefits on a wide scale.

Blakeslee said he hopes each of the projects will expand and influence a greater number of people. He said other ideas are in the hopper that he hopes to develop as well.

“We plan to grow and develop each one of these concepts to serve needs around the state of California,” Blakeslee said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2015 at 11:51 PM with the headline "Sam Blakeslee's think tank yields solutions."