Photos from the Belfer Center: February 15-28

David Eaves and Ben McGuire detail what Canada can learn from a tiny country that devised a coordinated, efficient system to serve its citizens using what's called platform government.

David Eaves and Kevin Frazier describe how companies chasing rapid growth can find surprising public sector parallels.

CAMBRIDGE MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has convened the inaugural meeting of The Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new effort to address critical questions about this far-reaching and rapidly evolving application for data and technology.  

digital HKS is an independent project committed to understanding the relationship between digital technology, open data, and digital rights as they relate to the public interest. Newly based at the Belfer Center, digital HKS achieves this by developing research, curriculum, and events as well as serving as a steward for the government digital services and public interest technology practitioner communities—two groups at the forefront of this work.

On June 12-13, 2018, digital HKS welcomed public sector digital services teams from around the world to share stories of success, talk about lessons learned, and discuss the challenges they face in transforming government. The teams convened all agreed on North Star goals of building platform services and putting users at the center; what remains much more difficult is identifying how teams in very different political and technology contexts should think about how to reach that end-state. In this report, digital HKS shares best practices we gleaned from this group, to start a broader conversation for digital services groups around the world about what comes next.

Over the last several years, a fascinating trend has emerged among students applying and entering to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. A small but fast-growing number are taking classes in data science and machine learning. They’re asking professors for more direct coding experience – and increasingly are critical of the skills imparted by required courses in statistics and data. They’re filling up optional tutorials offered by more tech-savvy parts of the University on GIS, data visualization, and web scraping. There is a broad, large interest in learning more about technology – especially the interaction between technology and governance. This change is being driven by student demand, not supply – and there’s a risk that supply is moving too slowly.

We work with a number of public-sector leaders who want technology innovation to be a cornerstone of their public service and spend much of their tenure sprinting after flashy new tech tools. Some have a clear and genuine goal to improve services or efficiency; others might see tech as a way to motivate headlines and enthusiasm. Regardless of motivation, this approach is a trap.