Katherine Schmidt is an Associate for Geopolitics of Technology at IST. She is a researcher with experience studying and publishing on topics related to Chinese technology, infrastructure, and data governance.

Most recently Katie completed a Fulbright Student Research Grant in Lima, Peru, where she studied Chinese development and co-authored a profile on the Las Bambas copper mine. Her prior independent research includes an examination of Chinese development in Azerbaijan based out of the Center for Economic and Social Development in Baku.

Previously, Katie supported various technology clients at The Cohen Group, where she was also a member of the firm’s China Practice. She also has worked on the topics of technology governance at Access Partnership and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Katie graduated from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service with a major in Science, Technology, and International Affairs and a minor in Chinese. Her honors thesis examined concepts of sovereignty in Chinese cybersecurity rhetoric. While at Georgetown she was awarded funding to conduct research in China and a grant to study Mandarin in Taiwan. She is also a recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship to study Azerbaijani.