Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group Annual Report 2019-2020

The Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group, hosted by former Secretary of Defense and Belfer Center Director Ash Carter and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Frank Doyle, holds monthly discussion-based meetings that explore and answer the question:

How do we resolve the dilemmas posed to public good and public purpose that are created by technology’s unstoppable advances?

These meetings are an opportunity for faculty members from across Harvard, MIT, and other universities, as well as industry experts and leaders from government and civic society, to both evaluate the impacts of an emerging technology and to exchange interdisciplinary approaches to shape its development. Furthermore, by gathering, developing connections, and advancing new ideas, this community will be the place that shapes the future of technological advancement.

In the fall semester, Faculty Working Group sessions focus on specific emerging and disruptive technologies in various stages of development—from early applied science to commercially available products. The technologies also each raise different policy questions and impact different dimensions of public purpose or societal values. The spring semester sessions build upon topics and questions raised during the fall by exploring potential policy proposals to help shape a future in which technology serves humanity as a whole.

The Boston Tech Hub Faculty Working Group Annual Report is a summary report of findings, key insights, and outstanding questions from the discussions held during the 2019-2020 academic year, and includes the brief primers created for each of the seven sessions held during the academic year.