IMPACT STUDIOS: SMARTER CROWDSOURCING
Impact Studios: Smarter Crowdsourcing uses AI to engage community and domain expertise at scale to enable participatory problem-solving that is more legitimate and more effective.
Policy Synth
Practical tools and methods that institutions can use to engage groups in solving public problems using a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and collective intelligence (CI).
Election Subversion
In 2023, in support of Democracy Fund Voice, The GovLab and the Burnes Center for Social Change are organizing three online advisory sessions on election integrity.
Modernization
In 2021, in support of the US House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, The GovLab is organizing two online advisory sessions to inform the Committee's process of developing recommendations on evidence-based lawmaking.
Experiential Learning
In 2021, at the behest of Northeastern University, the GovLab convened a series of conversations on innovations in experiential learning and the future of the university.
Education
In 2020, At the behest of the Walton Family Foundation, the GovLab convened a series of six online deliberations with multidisciplinary experts to address the challenge of equitably identifying and measuring the non-academic skills young people need to succeed
Coronavirus
In 2020, The GovLab collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank and its client governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to source innovative solutions to key problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
100 Questions
The 100 Questions Initiative seeks to map the world's 100 most pressing, high-impact questions that could be answered if relevant datasets were leveraged in a responsible manner.
Anti-Corruption
Worked with the Mexican government, civil society and over 100 global experts in the summer of 2017 to devise specific, workable and impactful solutions to the problem of corruption in Mexico.
Zika
Explored innovative and practical ways to address the causes of mosquito-borne diseases in 4 Latin American countries in 2016.
Cotopaxi
In 2015, the GovLab convened 65 experts to help government officials in Quito, Ecuador prepare for the imminent eruption of the Cotopaxi Volcano.
Our Methodology
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND DEFINITION
Using our problem definition methodology, we break down a larger issue into actionable, focused problems. Government partners prioritize among problems, selecting the ones to focus on.
CURATING GUESTS AND ONLINE CONFERENCES
We organize a two-month open innovation process that combines self-selection with curation to attract a wide range of diverse experts- specifically those with the experience, not just the credentials. Our team moderates two-hour online conferences focused on a different piece of the problem every week. We brief the most innovative and actionable ideas from the conferences and government partners select from them the ones they want to implement.
PUTTING IDEAS INTO PRACTICE
Following the conferences, our team conducts research and follow-up interviews to translate ideas into executable implementation plans. We cover those areas governments most need to know to successfully implement a solution, such as cost, timeline, metrics and how-to’s.