Oct 22

Democracy and Geopolitics Beyond the Terrorist Trap

Former Swedish Ambassador to China Börje Ljunggren details how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq contributed to the erosion of American democracy and how now, the health of democracy is impacted by the US-China relationship

by Börje Ljunggren

“The damage that al-Qaida has done to the United States pales in comparison to the damage that America did to itself.” This verdict was handed down by eminent Harvard professor Joseph Nye in a September 6th article in Project Syndicate. In it, he goes so far as to guess that…

Rethinking Cities for People with Hearing Loss

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…

Rethinking the Global Economic Order

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…

Emerging themes from the 4th Digital Services Convening

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. …

Celebrating digital services teams in 2020–1

HKS shield in Collins Rotunda floor, Taubman Building. Photo credit: Kent Dayton

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…

Equity and Inclusion Should be an ‘Add-in’ Not an ‘Add-on’

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…

Fresh Food Financing Initiative

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. …

Political Violence and the Media

Understanding the Case of Indonesia

Written by Marina Kusumawardhani

Postal voting package sent to an Indonesian voter in the United Kingdom for the 2019 general election. The grey-marked ballot is for the presidential election, while the yellow-marked ballot is for the legislative election for the Jakarta 2nd constituency (Central Jakarta, South Jakarta and abroad voters). — Postal voting package sent to an Indonesian voter for the 2019 general election. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

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…

The Once-Only Policy

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…

Funding Digital Government Initiatives

Digital government leaders on the need to rethink funding models for long-term impact

The U.S. Capitol surrounded by binary code. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

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…