The benefits of new digital and data-driven technologies are undeniable. The most valuable companies in the world increasingly rely on data, networks, and algorithms to create value for their users and customers. Furthermore, digital technologies and digitization transform basic and applied research in numerous disciplines. Yet, the benefit of this innovation is very unevenly distributed. Technology is still primarily built in developed economies for customers, firms, researchers, and policymakers in developed economies. Many parts of the world, e.g., Africa and ASEAN, could explore and benefit from the opportunities the technology creates. Even within countries like the United States, there remain stark inequities. Innovation and entrepreneurship not only fail to include women and minorities as builders, but also fail to build for women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and users outside of major tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York City. 

Prof Khanna will discuss an initiative by Harvard Business School’s Digital, Data, and Design Institute called “Tech for All.” The initiative aims to broaden the benefits of digital innovation and entrepreneurship to include more people in developing economies, women, people of color, and those in economically disadvantaged circumstances or regions. The initiative has a dual mission: both advancing research on this topic and enabling the commercialization, translation, and scaling of digital technologies that can significantly benefit the underserved. Collaborators in this initiative will generate data-driven evidence, disseminated through academic papers and practitioner-focused articles, regarding the underserved constituencies. They will equally focus on identifying the frictions that drive such inequities and exploring how firms can use design, data, and new digital technologies to better invent for everyone.