Originally published on Tech Policy Press.

Digital industries are a major focus of competition regulators, and tech experts are playing an increasingly large role in competition enforcement. But who are these tech experts? What do they do? What, specifically, are they experts in? This post explains the importance of technologists to contemporary competition enforcement. It then opens the black box of expertise by describing some different specialisms which come under the broad umbrella of a “technologist.” It ends by considering how these experts can benefit enforcers, and with some suggestions for their continued integration into the discipline.