Learning About Technology

HBS Digital Initiative Director David Homa wants to know: how would you describe tech inequality?

Pathways to a Just Digital Future brings together thinkers, makers, and activists to unpack the roots of inequality in tech and chart a course toward a digital world that works for everyone.

DI editor Theresa Diederich reflects on the DI’s digital publication a year on and shares her highlights of the advancements in the tech community at HBS.

The explosion of available data and subsequent renaissance in data-driven decision making is poised to open up 2.7 million new jobs in analytics by 2020. To meet this growing demand, Harvard is taking an interdisciplinary approach to help professionals upskill their business analytics mastery.

Fresno Unified School District had built a robust data-collection system, but none of it was being put to use. That is, until Harvard Strategic Data Project Fellow David Jansen developed a app that turned improving student outcomes into a compelling game.

Data skills are in higher demand than ever, and the workforce is rapidly attempting to fill the gap. In this article, Emily Glassberg Sands (Ph.D. ’14 in Economics) shares her observations on data upskilling trends gleaned from over 30 million learners at Coursera — some of them might surprise you!

In 2015, there were 7 million jobs that required some level of coding, but the number of workers with those skills hasn’t kept up with demand. Could provide better access to technical learning for those who work in lower-paying industries provide the answer? Kausik Rajgopal and Steve Westly think so.

What are humanities good for? It turns out, in today’s complex and interrelated modern world, quite a lot. In this piece from the Harvard Business Review, J.M. Olejarz deconstructs the false dichotomy between liberal arts and STEM fields and argues that humanities majors have much to offer in the digital economy.

What are the meaningful implications of technological innovation? This is the question Janet Balis (MBA ’99) found herself asking at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Breaking down her key insights from the conference, Balis offers several salient and thought-provoking questions for those seeking to derive more impact from innovation than simply shiny, exciting new gadgets.

This article takes a look at the thriving tech culture on the Harvard Business School campus, and explores how MBA students view the value of opportunities to become more technical. If “coding is the new business literacy,” then the CODE club at HBS is going for fluency.