8 Items

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). 

Defending Digital Democracy “Hackathon” finalists with Belfer Center Director and former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter​​​​​​​

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

News

National Student Hackathon Showcases Innovative Proposals to Thwart Cyberattacks and Information Operations

| March 30, 2018

“Honey bots” that counter malicious bots. An app called Sanity Check. Cyber Security Bonds. And technology that breaks the grip of online echo chambers. Those are just some of the ideas that college students from around the country presented Thursday in Cambridge as part of the Defending Digital Democracy Project’s first-ever Information Operations Technical and Policy Hack-a-thon.

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

Building Cyber Defenses For U.S. Elections

| Spring 2018

Undaunted, a group of young civil servants is working directly with political operatives and state and local officials to fortify campaigns and elections against cyberattacks and information operations: Harvard Kennedy School students affiliated with the Belfer Center’s Defending Digital Democracy Project (D3P).

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

Spotlight on Debora Plunkett: Protecting America's Most Important Information

| Fall/Winter 2017-2018

For Debora Plunkett, joining forces with the Belfer Center’s Defending Digital Democracy project was much more than an academic opportunity—it was her duty as an American. Russian meddling in the 2016 election “hit at the core of me as an American,” she said. “I am offended that anyone would try to limit, distort, or alter the rights of Americans to vote, and so I’m interested in helping to develop and deliver security guidance that will help campaigns better understand and respond to current-day cyber threaats and vulnerabilities.”

President Barack Obama gets direction from his science advisor John P. Holdren during an event on the South Lawn of the White House to explore the stars with middle school students.

Reuters

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

Spotlight on John P. Holdren

| Fall/Winter 2016-2017

As assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy, and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), Holdren has worked closely with Obama to reinvigorate America’s scientific capabilities on a range of policy fronts, from climate change and renewable energy to health care and nanotechnology.

David Keith, on The Colbert Report, discusses climate engineering with a skeptical Stephen Colbert (December 2013).

Comedy Central

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

Spotlight: David Keith

| Summer 2015

David Keith is the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, housed at the Belfer Center. He has worked at the interface between climate science, energy technology, and public policy for 20 years and has received numerous honors for his work, including the MIT prize for excellence in experimental physics and TIME magazine’s selection as one of its Heroes of the Environment.

Harvard President Drew Faust congratulates "Venky" Narayanamurti.

Martha Stewart

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

Harvard’s Incomparable Venky

| Fall/Winter 2014-15

Some of America’s most distinguished leaders in academia, science, and technology gathered at Harvard in September to celebrate the 75th birthday of renowned Harvard scientist Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti—and to discuss the future of innovation in America.