Burcu Kilic

Burcu Kilic is a scholar, lawyer and digital rights advocate. She directs the Digital Rights Program at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization based in Washington D.C. that champions public interest in the halls of power. She has researched and written extensively on intellectual property, innovation, digital rights and trade, and provided technical advice and assistance in numerous countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. 

Burcu also directs Public Citizen’s research on Access to Medicines. She was named as one of the 300 Women Leaders in Global Health in 2015 and currently works on global access to Covid-19 medical technologies. Burcu roots her technical and legal expertise in a profound desire to advance rights-based policymaking across the globe by promoting alliance-based civil society engagement, policy entrepreneurship and policy innovation. She serves as the U.S. co-chair of the Digital Policy Committee, Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue and the Council Member of the Progressive International. 

She completed her Ph.D. at Queen Mary, University of London, holds L.L.M. degrees in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary, University of London and Information Technology Law from Stockholm University. She obtained her law degree from Ankara University, Turkey and was a SARChI research associate at the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.

Read Q&A with Burcu:

What is your research focus?

Digital trade, digital rights, social justice, technological and economic development.

How do you plan to change the world?

I plan to change the world by standing up to power, questioning the status quo, advocating against social and economic injustice, and inspiring new policy directions.

What is an interesting fact about yourself?

I hiked in New Zealand while wearing a walking boot.

What is music/film/art that represents who you are?

Rumi’s poetry.