Our Labs

The blackbox Lab explores the promise of data, digital, and design with respect to contemporary understandings of blackness and business in digital space, products, services, and market platforms.

The mission of the lab is to advance our understanding of how digital transformation and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in management and governance practices deliver measurable financial, environmental, and social impacts.

A new internet era is upon us. Web3 opens the door to new business models and financial products, with decentralization, open protocols, and digital assets. To what extent will these technologies transform ownership, money, and identity – and how? What will their impact on business and society be – and how should governments respond? The Crypto, Fintech, and Web3 Lab drives rigorous research in this important and emerging field.

We are deluged by data. Companies collect huge quantities of it hoping for magic insights. But what do they do with this rich resource? In most cases, not enough.

The Customer Intelligence Lab is helping companies make better use of their customer data, to improve outcomes for the company, their customers, and society at large.

The development of technology in the past few decades is changing all aspects of people’s lives, including social interactions and the way of work. How can such developments improve not only efficiency, but also people’s emotional worlds and well-being? The digital Emotions lab is a research community that is focused on exploring the connection between the digital world and our feelings, moods, and emotions.

Digital disrupts. Will digitization lead to large scale unemployment? How do we ensure that workers and citizens are not left behind in the digital era? The Digital Reskilling Lab is focused on these questions and the implications for workers and the quality of work.

High performing organizations make better decisions and execute them in an agile fashion. Data drives better decisions in these organizations and digital makes them more dynamic. The Digital Value Lab will study the performance and governance of digitally-scaled organizations by examining how digital technologies, big data, and the tools of artificial intelligence are driving performance and value creation through better decision-making.

The Future of Media Lab emerges as a hub for creativity, and collaboration. Within this innovative ecosystem, the lab will collaborate with other D^3 Labs and draw upon a diverse community of students, faculty, and practitioners to address challenges and opportunities in media and entertainment. It will pioneer new business models and create products and services that simultaneously serve consumer needs and the public interest.

Starting in 2010, the NASA Tournament Lab at Harvard University pioneered the use of field experiments to solve computational problems for the human space program and simultaneously conduct research on the economics and management of innovation. Since that time, the laboratory has expanded its footprint to conduct leading-edge research, influence managerial practice, and develop policy insights regarding the discipline of innovation. Today, the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH), is the largest laboratory within the D^3 Institute and leads the study of Open Innovation; the Science of Science; Data Science, and AI.

Many of the world’s most valuable businesses today employ digital business models, especially platform-based business models, to grow. Think Amazon, Apple, Ant Group l, and Alphabet. Billions of us are avid users of their applications daily. And because of our patronage, they enjoy a host of network benefits. The Platform Lab helps businesses and policymakers launch and scale new business models that enhance social welfare.

Advances in computing and data analysis have generated tools that allow for more sophisticated pricing decisions. For many companies, choices about pricing technologies and processes influence other major decisions and are central to the underlying business model. Understanding the impacts of new pricing technologies can help leaders better manage their interactions with other market participants, […]

The world is innovating faster than ever, but this change is not evenly distributed, and neither are its benefits. The Tech for All Lab will make technologies accessible to all.

We’re surrounded by Artificial Intelligence. Can we trust it? Do we know what to do with it? Will it help us make better decisions? The Trustworthy AI Lab is exploring the boundaries of AI in society and business.