Science & Technology

183 Items

Josephine Wolff

Liza Xiao

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Series Explores AI and Algorithm Regulations and Practices

| Fall 2022

This fall, the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program (STPP) brought back the popular AI Cyber Lunch seminar series to explore issues at the forefront of technology and, increasingly, public policy. The hybrid seminar series, organized by Cyber Project Fellow and HKS Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier and STPP Fellow Cathy O’Neil, brought a wide range of speakers to Harvard Kennedy School to discuss how new and emerging technologies can be harnessed to enhance, rather than harm, society.

Photo of Gitanjali Rao arriving at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

(Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Women in STEM Share Experiences

| Spring 2022

Throughout this spring, Belfer Fellow Dr. Syra Madad developed and hosted a Women in STEM event series to highlight women leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The aim of the series was to recognize the many accomplishments and contributions by women in STEM fields while educating and empowering young women, providing valuable advice, and sharing pearls of wisdom. This six-event series featured guest speakers that included America's Top Young Scientist Gitanjali Rao, former White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, leading figure in the U.S. space program Lori Garver and Spacecraft Operations Engineer Nagin Cox, Tiktok-renowned epidemiologist Dr. Katrine Wallace, and many more.

This April 23, 2018, file photo shows the logo for Verizon above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Verizon is pledging to stop selling information on phone owners' locations to data brokers, stepping back from a business practice that has drawn criticism for endangering privacy, The Associated Press has learned.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Controlling Data Privacy and Security

| Spring 2022

Earlier this year, the Belfer Center’s Cyber Project embarked on an ambitious project, but one we believe is achievable: to get a federal data privacy and security law passed. Such a law will have enormous benefits for consumers, businesses, and national security. In the absence of a federal law,  organizations are still free to collect, hold, process, use, and sell data however they wish.

In collaboration with the R Street Institute’s Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Team, led by Tatyana Bolton, and Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s Senior Advisor Cory Simpson, the Cyber Project is taking a focused approach to the problem. 

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- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Testimony on China’s Cyber, Energy Plans

| Spring 2022

In February and March, Belfer Center Student Fellow Winnona DeSombre and Environment and Natural Resources Program Director Henry Lee testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, D.C. During separate hearings on China’s capabilities and plans related to cyber and to energy, DeSombre and Lee recommended actions Congress should take for the U.S. to remain competitive with China.

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- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

U.S. Digital Corps Expands Government Expertise

| Fall 2021

With the launch of the U.S. Digital Corps this summer, the Biden Administration has signaled a desire to attract early-career technologists and put their skills to work in the federal government. Nick Sinai, Senior Fellow with the Technology and Public Purpose Project (TAPP), co-founded the U.S. Digital Corps. 

We asked Sinai to tell us how the Digital Corps came about and his experience working with and making connections between Harvard Kennedy School students and fellows and other young technologists. 

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Exploring a World of AI Hackers

| Spring 2021

Bruce Schneier warns that AIs are becoming hackers. They're able to find exploitable vulnerabilities in software code. They're still not very good at it, but they'll get better. It's the kind of problem that lends itself to modern machine learning techniques: an enormous amount of input data, pattern matching, and goals that permit reinforcement. We have every reason to believe that AIs will continue to get better at this task and will soon surpass humans. They'll even come up with hacks that we humans would judge creative.

Photo of a mask-wearing passenger departs a bus where masks are required of riders Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, in Bellingham, Wash. 

AP Photo Elaine Thompson

Staying Safe Today, Preparing for Tomorrow

| Fall 2020

Since March, the Belfer Center’s scholars and practitioners have been physically distanced but intellectually close. They’ve faced the pandemic head-on, launching new types of research to explore the unusual, tragic circumstances of this year. 

These new products include tips and advice regarding COVID, health, and safety from Juliette Kayyem, Faculty Director of our Homeland Security Project, and a series of reports and recommendations regarding preparing for and responding to future pandemics from the OPCAST Ad-Hoc Pandemic Response Group, led by John P. Holdren.

D3P Helps Safeguard 2020 Elections

| Fall 2020

A number of factors in the fall of 2020 made it easier for agents of disinformation to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election process and results—before, during, and after election day. Working to thwart them, however, was an army of well-trained election officials. Much of their training was carried out by the Belfer Center’s Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P). 

#ShareTheMic in Cyber

| Fall 2020

This Spring, the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the injustices and inequality across the nation, forcing the nation to really pay attention. The murders of Ahmad Arbury, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many other Black men and women reverberated throughout homes and communities and people in cities across America took to the streets to protest racism and police brutality. For many, this was a time of reckoning, and together, the entire Belfer Center staff looked for ways to identify and dismantle systemic racism in their professional and personal lives.

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Digital Currency Wars Simulation Tests New Economic Challenges

| Spring 2020

Digital currencies are on the rise. More than a decade after bitcoin made cryptocurrency mainstream, countries and central banks are evaluating whether to issue their own digital cash. The Belfer Center’s Economic Diplomacy Initiative (EDI) is exploring how policymakers should manage economic policy and the national security implications of this disruptive trend.

To illustrate the challenges posed by digital currency, EDI conducted a national security crisis simulation in Harvard Kennedy School’s JFK Jr. Forum. The simulation featured Harvard and MIT faculty and former government officials portraying National Security Council (NSC) members.