by Janice Lintz — We need to ensure that cities upgrade hearing access as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Act, which was approved by the Senate, will provide American cities with $1 trillion to rebuild airports, ferries, terminals, public transit, and rail, to name a few of the categories under…

By Ping Wang This article is based on a Harvard Kennedy School event with Lawrence H. Summers (Secretary of the US Treasury for President Clinton; the Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama, Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard), Kevin Rudd (26th Prime Minister…

Digital cannot be a capability tucked away at arm’s length — by Sechi Kailasa Three weeks ago we co-hosted the 4th Digital Services Convening with the Harvard Kennedy School. This year we had over 100 participants from around 47 digital service groups around the world. These teams have achieved a considerable amount: we published a blog post about their successes. …

Written by Mike Bracken and David Eaves The Digital Services Convening is an annual event hosted by the The Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Public Digital. This year — our fourth — brought together over 100 digital government practitioners from over 47 countries to meet…

Ash Center Director for Equity and Inclusion LaChaun Banks on the intersection of civic policy, research, and the Center’s own approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion — Written by LaChaun Banks, Ash Center Director for Equity and Inclusion Chair, Ash Center Steering Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Over the years, I have had the good fortune to work in some of the most rural and even depressed areas of the country. Working in economic development and…

The Reinvestment Fund and The Food Trust together tackle local food deserts in Pennsylvania-low-income neighborhoods with severely limited access to fresh produce locally. …

Understanding the Case of Indonesia — Written by Marina Kusumawardhani The 2019 Indonesian election delegitimization attempt and the May 2019 riots around the house of the election-monitoring body in Jakarta proved just how powerful politicians’ incitement of violence could be. But months before that, it was the divided narrative of the media that created deep polarization…

How this shift in thinking can revolutionize digital government. — Written by Naeha Rashid Over the past decade — and further accelerated by the pandemic — a consensus has started to emerge around both the need for and the basic elements of a digital era government. The need is straight forward, citizens increasingly experience seamless, fast and omnipresent service from…

Digital government leaders on the need to rethink funding models for long-term impact — Written by David Eaves, Emily Middleton, Claire Bedoui, Rohan Sandhu Each year, David Eaves of the Harvard Kennedy School and Public Digital convene digital service groups from over 30 governments around the world. Last June, digital government leaders stressed the need to rethink funding models for long-term impact. In recent…