Paper
Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation authors offer the first comprehensive analysis of how Massachusetts municipalities are using technology to support civic engagement, government decision-making, and public service delivery.
The Landscape of Digital Civic Infrastructure in Massachusetts offers the first comprehensive analysis of how Massachusetts municipalities are using technology to support civic engagement, government decision-making, and public service delivery. Drawing on interviews with municipal leaders and analysis of 58 municipalities across the Commonwealth, the report highlights promising examples of where technology can help support democracy and where significant gaps remain, as well as recommendations for how digital civic infrastructure can strengthen democracy starting at the local level. The findings provide a foundational grounding for conversations about democratic renovation for modern times.
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Sarah Hubbard is the Associate Director for Technology & Democracy at the Ash Center’s Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. Her current work focuses on the governance of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
Summer Sun is a research assistant with the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. She is studying Government with a secondary in Computer Science.
Darshan Goux is the Senior Lab Director for the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. Previously, she was Chief Program Officer at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate and Director of the American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good program at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Neil Miller is a researcher at Harvard Kennedy School and a former federal government data scientist.
David Riveros García is a Master’s of Public Administration candidate and a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy and director of the Democratic Knowledge Project and of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. She is also a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate, national voice on AI and tech ethics, author, and mom.
Additional Resource
On campus last week, Allen Lab Fellow Joshua Darr shared his recent report, From Questions to Evidence, with Allen Lab members and Harvard’s Nieman Lab (A new report argues newsrooms need to do more experiments — like, the kind with randomization and results). Darr is the director of the Local NExT Lab at Syracuse University.
Commentary
Engaged California is the nation’s first state-run deliberation program, and a new law aims to make it last.
Additional Resource
In a recent guest essay for The New York Times, Allen Lab Democracy Stack Fellow Beth Noveck argues for putting A.I. behind every public servant.
Commentary
Engaged California is the nation’s first state-run deliberation program, and a new law aims to make it last.
Additional Resource
In a recent guest essay for The New York Times, Allen Lab Democracy Stack Fellow Beth Noveck argues for putting A.I. behind every public servant.
Media Release
