Science, Technology and Data

BY ROBERT REYNOLDS Nudging—the application of behavioral insights to public policy interventions—is among today’s fastest growing public policy fields. In the last few years, organizations from the White House to Google to the World Bank have launched behavioral science teams tasked with running randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that identify powerful nudges. During this time, Kennedy […]

According to CNN Money, in 2014, 64,000 residents left Puerto Rico. That’s more than double the rate in 2010, according to the Pew Research Center. Puerto Ricans are heading to Texas or Florida to find jobs because the island is on the verge of fiscal default unless the US government intervenes. Until issues are resolved […]

An interview with Diego Molano Vega, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia. Diego Molano Vega has been the Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia since 2010. In this interview, he reveals his perspective on one of the most challenging issues for the development of Latin America: keeping pace with the changes […]

BY JUSTIN REYNOLDS The bus trundled to a stop in front of a dismal looking barbed wire gate. The vodka from the previous night still featured prominently in my thoughts as I struggled to build a picture of a place I never thought I would visit: Russia.  It was the third day of a week-long […]

BY JESSICA CUSSINS The Harvard Kennedy School encourages us to ask what we can do. At a time when a U.S. government shutdown is an ongoing and legitimate concern, the importance of getting things done should not be underestimated. But as graduate students taking time away from the confines of the workplace, we are in […]

BY HUGO ZYLBERBERG When I first read Tim Cook’s “Message to [Apple’s] customers,” I felt on the receiving end of a marketing push. Sure, I agree the government should not be able to read my online diary, and sure, I agree the government should not be able to weaken encryption for everyone. But the real […]

BY KATIE D’HONDT Today, Apple released an open letter defying the U.S. government, the first of its kind. In the wake of the San Bernardino attack, a U.S. federal judge has mandated that Apple build software that will allow the government to break the encryption that safeguards the data of all Apple products – a […]

BY JESSE HAMPTON This piece appeared in our 2015 print journal. You can order your copy here.  The democratization of space is already underway. The 21st century is witnessing a rapid acceleration in both the development of space and satellite technology and the availability of this technology to countries, corporations, and in­­­dividuals. Advances in technology allow […]

BY JESSICA CUSSINS Now that we have the power to permanently alter humanity, should we? This was the question at the heart of the International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Washington, D.C., last week, an event co-hosted by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and of Medicine, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the […]

BY DAVID PAYNE Packed seats, people standing wherever they could find space, and a rush towards the stage at the end to meet the event’s stars. That scene, characteristic of a pop star’s reception, unfolded on October 27th when NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and 100-Year Starship Principal Dr. Mae Jemison spoke at Harvard’s JFK Jr. […]

BY JESSICA ZUCKER Standing side-by-side in the White House rose garden on September 25, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that they had reached a “common understanding” to combat “cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property.” In a widely anticipated announcement, the two leaders also agreed to respond to requests for law enforcement […]

BY DAVID PAYNE Within 50 years, human beings will go on one-way journeys to permanent settlements on Mars. That claim is audacious but is being increasingly echoed by the likes of Elon Musk and supported by the plans of various companies, governments, and non-profit organizations. With the premiere of The Martian this week and as […]