2021 MIT IDE Annual Report
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<strong>2021</strong> ANNUAL REPORT<br />
Racing into the future
<strong>2021</strong> IN REVIEW<br />
A Pivotal Year for the World,<br />
a Prolific One for the <strong>IDE</strong><br />
<strong>IDE</strong> Director Sinan Aral shares his thoughts on the past year<br />
Sinan Aral<br />
Director, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
In <strong>2021</strong>, we continued to lead the way forward<br />
despite an ever-changing digital landscape.<br />
How can technology effect positive change?<br />
CONTENTS<br />
03 ACHIEVEMENTS<br />
04 RESEARCH<br />
06 AWARDS<br />
07 EVENTS<br />
09 EDUCATION<br />
10 TEAM<br />
11 SUPPORTERS<br />
It’s often difficult to measure the impact of<br />
academic accomplishments, but at the <strong>IDE</strong><br />
we repeatedly get to see how our diligence is<br />
making a difference. <strong>2021</strong> was a pivotal year for<br />
the world and a prolific year for our outstanding<br />
faculty, researchers, and students.<br />
Recent recognition and accolades are just one<br />
reflection of our work’s value. I was humbled to<br />
be named the top digital thinker by Thinkers50,<br />
joining other <strong>IDE</strong> researchers and scholars—past<br />
and present—on this list, including Geoffrey<br />
Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne, Andrew McAfee,<br />
and Erik Brynjolfsson. I’m also privileged to work<br />
with Maria Ressa, <strong>IDE</strong> fellow and CEO of Rappler,<br />
who received the Nobel Peace Prize for her<br />
staunch advocacy of press freedom and defense<br />
of truthful information around the globe. The<br />
leading-edge research of many other <strong>IDE</strong> leaders<br />
was also recognized this year, which is fulfilling<br />
and energizing.<br />
At the same time, <strong>2021</strong> was much more than<br />
a year when <strong>IDE</strong> scholars won awards; it<br />
allowed us to be at the epicenter of international<br />
business and policy discussions about the<br />
significant implications of digital technologies<br />
like AI and social media, and the increasing<br />
impact of fake news.<br />
When I began my study of social media and<br />
marketing more than a decade ago, I knew it<br />
was a growing phenomena. Still, it’s startling<br />
today to see the profound power wielded by<br />
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon,<br />
and Google. As I point out in my book, The Hype<br />
Machine, technology and society have fused<br />
into one conversation. Should social media be<br />
regulated? And if so, how? Can we safeguard<br />
personal privacy and democracy? Can we stem<br />
the flow of misinformation? The critical nature<br />
of these issues explains why we had more than<br />
20,000 people join us for the virtual Social Media<br />
Summit at <strong>MIT</strong> in April <strong>2021</strong>—the largest event at<br />
<strong>MIT</strong>, ever.<br />
I look forward to 2022 and the new areas of the<br />
digital economy that we will study rigorously.<br />
We’ll shed light on the promise—and the perils—<br />
these technologies may bring.<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong>’s goal is to explore how people and<br />
businesses will work, interact, and prosper<br />
in an era of profound digital transformation.<br />
We can only achieve that goal with the support<br />
of our members and sponsors. Even when we<br />
can’t meet in person, we continue to deepen<br />
our collaboration and relationships with you,<br />
our stakeholders. Thanks for joining us on this<br />
wild journey.<br />
02
ACHIEVEMENTS<br />
<strong>2021</strong>:<br />
The Pandemic-<br />
Fueled Reliance<br />
on Technology<br />
Resulted in<br />
Resilience and<br />
Reinvention<br />
FPO<br />
RESSA WINS NOBEL<br />
PEACE PRIZE<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> Digital Fellow Maria Ressa won the <strong>2021</strong><br />
Nobel Peace Prize “for [her] efforts to safeguard<br />
freedom of expression, which is a precondition<br />
for democracy and lasting peace.” A journalist in<br />
Asia for 35 years, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a<br />
digital news site that’s leading the fight for press<br />
freedom in the Philippines. As the company’s<br />
executive editor and CEO, Ressa has endured<br />
constant political harassment and arrests by<br />
the Duterte government—and was forced to<br />
post bail nine times to stay free. Rappler’s battle<br />
for truth and democracy is the subject of the<br />
2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A<br />
Thousand Cuts. Ressa has contributed to <strong>IDE</strong><br />
events, including her keynote talk at the <strong>2021</strong><br />
<strong>IDE</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> Conference and Social Media<br />
Summit @ <strong>MIT</strong>.<br />
In <strong>2021</strong>, social media truly took center<br />
Reuters / Alamy<br />
stage. No longer a benign fad, platforms<br />
became enmeshed with the ongoing<br />
NEW RESEARCH ABOUNDS<br />
A-LAB DRIVES BENEFITS<br />
COVID-19 crisis, government upheaval,<br />
COVID-19 RESEARCH REPORT<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> research team worked tirelessly to provide timely,<br />
accurate, and data-informed analysis of the pandemic and its<br />
effects– even as it unfolded. The goal was to offer actionable<br />
solutions for policymakers, business leaders, and citizens.<br />
We collaborated with companies like Facebook, Safegraph,<br />
Praekelt, and Graphika Inc. to analyze millions of data points<br />
to help stop the coronavirus spread and advise global leaders<br />
on critical next steps. Our report, Our World Accelerated:<br />
COVID-19 and the Impact on Our Digital Economy, outlines the<br />
key findings from multiple <strong>IDE</strong> research projects.<br />
As always, <strong>IDE</strong> researchers focused on the most<br />
crticial digital economy issues affecting the<br />
world today– as well as the future. We tackled<br />
thorny topics such as: How AI drives decisionmaking;<br />
what the world of work will look like<br />
post-pandemic, and when and how quantum<br />
computing will replace traditional computing.<br />
ACCENTURE DEEPENS COLLABORATION<br />
Accenture, an <strong>IDE</strong> founding member, invigorated<br />
our collaboration this year. With the establishment<br />
of the <strong>MIT</strong> and Accenture Convergence Initiative<br />
for Industry and Society, our organizations<br />
launched a rigorous new agenda of research,<br />
events, and content development.<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> EVENTS DRAW HUGE AUDIENCES<br />
With virtual events now the norm, the <strong>IDE</strong> took<br />
full advantage of this format yielding excellent<br />
response and participation. We launched<br />
new events like the Social Media Summit and<br />
continued our heritage events: the Platform<br />
Strategy Summit and <strong>Annual</strong> Conference. Overall,<br />
we engaged more than 25,000 viewers and<br />
attracted new members and partners.<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong>’s flagship educational offering – the<br />
Analytics Lab (A-Lab) – continues to be highly<br />
sought by students and project hosts alike.<br />
In this graduate seminar, student teams engage<br />
with host organizations to use analytics,<br />
machine learning, and other analysis<br />
methods. Their results diagnose, enable, or<br />
uncover solutions to real business issues and<br />
opportunities. This year’s class included 98<br />
graduate students and 25 projects hosted by<br />
19 companies.<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> RESEARCHERS GARNER ACCOLADES<br />
Our team of researchers continues to<br />
receive recognition on the international<br />
stage for cutting-edge work on the digital<br />
economy. The list of accolades speaks to the<br />
contributions of our researchers to academia,<br />
industry, and the public sector. For example,<br />
Dean Eckles provided testimony on algorithmic<br />
transparency and assessing the effects of<br />
algorithmic ranking before the US Senate<br />
Subcommittee on Communications, Media,<br />
and Broadband.<br />
and related misinformation campaigns<br />
worldwide. These topics also informed<br />
the research agenda at the <strong>IDE</strong>. The<br />
more technology’s role in society was<br />
top-of-mind and hotly debated, the<br />
more relevant our work became.<br />
PRESS & MEDIA COVERAGE SOARS<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> research and events continue to attract global<br />
attention from the press and media, advancing<br />
the public understanding of the digital economy.<br />
Our channels experienced widespread growth as<br />
we launched informative content across Twitter,<br />
LinkedIn, Medium, Instagram, and our newly<br />
revised website and video. Our audience has<br />
grown to more than 4,000 followers on Medium.<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> Director Sinan Aral was a sought-after<br />
commentator on national and global media—<br />
including CNN and Yahoo Finance—on topics<br />
ranging from the January 6 invasion of the US<br />
Capitol to big tech monopolies.<br />
03
RESEARCH<br />
Our Research:<br />
A Strong<br />
Foundation<br />
Research is at the core<br />
of everything we do<br />
at the <strong>IDE</strong>. Our team<br />
continues to examine<br />
the critical issues facing<br />
the world today and in<br />
the future.<br />
RESEARCH GROUPS<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> leadership team focuses on six research group topics.<br />
Misinformation & Fake News<br />
David Rand is advancing the fight against online<br />
misinformation and driving truth in our digital lives.<br />
In the research project, The Psychology of Fake News, Rand writes,<br />
“There is…a large disconnect between what people believe and what<br />
they will share on social media, and this is largely driven by inattention<br />
rather than by purposeful sharing of misinformation.”<br />
The Human/AI Interface<br />
Renée Richardson Gosline is optimizing the human<br />
and AI division of decision-making and preventing bias<br />
in algorithms.<br />
During the <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan Experts series, Gosline discussed “Human-<br />
Centered AI,” which examines the consequences of how and when<br />
people trust bots and algorithms to help them make decisions, and<br />
what it means for society at large.<br />
Data-Driven Societies<br />
Sandy Pentland is building data and AI ecosystems<br />
and infrastructure in which all partners—citizens,<br />
companies, and government—are winners.<br />
Alex “Sandy” Pentland, is among the contributors to Remaking the<br />
World—The Age of Global Enlightenment. The joint initiative by the<br />
Boston Global Forum and the United Nations Academic Impact features<br />
two articles by Pentland: “The Cycle of Prosperity: Ensuring Equal<br />
Opportunity” and “Our Digital Future: from the Internet to the Interledger.”<br />
Tech for Good<br />
Andrew McAfee is accelerating and ensuring the broad,<br />
positive progress that innovation drives in our economy,<br />
society, and environment.<br />
McAfee’s insights continue to illuminate the paradoxes and the<br />
potential inherent in technology’s ability to promote a more positive<br />
future. Read “Don’t Misunderstand Earth Day’s Successes” in Wired.<br />
Accenture Deepens Collaboration with <strong>IDE</strong><br />
As a founding member of the <strong>IDE</strong>, Accenture<br />
has embarked on an extensive program of<br />
research and activities with <strong>IDE</strong> faculty, scientists,<br />
and staff. Currently, we are working closely<br />
together on four streams of research: Quantum<br />
Computing; Digital Decoupling; Responsible AI,<br />
and Productivity and the Cloud.<br />
Social Networks & Digital<br />
Experimentation<br />
Dean Eckles is uncovering how new technologies and<br />
means of social interaction and contagion impact all<br />
facets of life.<br />
Industry decision-makers often want to identify interventions, such<br />
as marketing campaigns, that will maximize a desired outcome, but<br />
often this outcome can only be observed in the long-term. Eckles<br />
and his co-authors’ research finds methods for identifying optimal<br />
interventions in the near term using statistical surrogacy and offpolicy<br />
learning literature.<br />
AI, Labor Economics, and<br />
Online Marketplaces<br />
John Horton explores how the design of online<br />
marketplaces and computer-mediated transactions<br />
can create widespread benefits for all.<br />
Horton’s forthcoming working paper, “The Death of a Technical Skill,”<br />
examines when the demand for a skill falls—or will foreseeably fall.<br />
Workers with that skill must make a choice. Using Apple’s decision in<br />
2010 to no longer support Adobe Flash, Horton uncovers the effect of<br />
this decision on the workforce.<br />
04
RESEARCH<br />
New Projects for a New Age<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> research engine revved up in <strong>2021</strong> to focus on today’s dominant topics<br />
as well as the themes that will loom large tomorrow.<br />
VIEW OUR LATEST RESEARCH PROJECTS AT <strong>IDE</strong>.<strong>MIT</strong>.EDU<br />
DEEP LEARNING’S PRESENT &<br />
QUANTUM COMPUTING’S FUTURE<br />
Quantum Computing continues to gain attention<br />
as a super-charged collaborator to classical<br />
computing, but when and how we will reach<br />
quantum advantage remains a pressing<br />
question. <strong>IDE</strong> researchers are closely analyzing<br />
quantum advancements and other AI technology<br />
breakthroughs–as well as their limitations.<br />
Current research includes:<br />
How Fast Do Algorithms Improve?<br />
“One way to improve computer performance<br />
is to change their algorithms—the step-bystep<br />
procedures used by computers to solve<br />
problems. While many claims have been made<br />
about the rapid pace of algorithmic progress,<br />
there is a wide discrepancy across algorithms.”<br />
Deep Learning’s Diminishing Returns<br />
“Faced with rising economic and environmental<br />
costs, the deep-learning community will need<br />
to increase performance without causing<br />
computing demands to go through the roof.<br />
If they don’t, progress will stagnate. But don’t<br />
despair yet: Plenty is being done to address<br />
this challenge.”<br />
Quantum Computing for Business Leaders<br />
This article published in Harvard Business Review<br />
“examines the way quantum computers will not<br />
only upend digital security, but spur investment,<br />
reshape industries, and spark innovation.”<br />
SOCIAL MEDIA<br />
Social media and its effect on our world<br />
continues to provoke actions and reactions<br />
by businesses, governments, and individuals.<br />
For <strong>IDE</strong> researchers, that means constantly<br />
offering data-based insights about the potential<br />
ramifications of social media in areas such as the<br />
platform economy, healthcare, and elections. We<br />
take an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing<br />
the behavioral, as well as the economic, impact<br />
of technology. A few examples of recent reports:<br />
Field Experiments On Social Media<br />
Online behavioral data, such as digital traces<br />
from social media, may allow researchers an<br />
unprecedented window into human behavior.<br />
However, research using such data is often purely<br />
observational, limiting its ability to identify causal<br />
relationships.<br />
Influencer Video Advertising on TikTok<br />
Influencer videos on the TikTok online platform<br />
have emerged as a multi-billion dollar force<br />
in marketing. We explore what differentiates<br />
influencer videos that drive many sales from<br />
those that drive only a few.<br />
Online Platforms Have Become Chaos<br />
Machines. Can We Rein Them In?<br />
Sinan Aral continues to be the go-to expert on<br />
social media. In this Harvard Business Review<br />
article, Aral answers tough questions about<br />
unchecked social media.<br />
FAKE NEWS<br />
JOURNALISM AGAINST MISINFORMATION<br />
If we study the truth behind fake news, we may help<br />
combat this dangerous and unintended byproduct<br />
of the digital world. A team of <strong>IDE</strong> researchers<br />
probed misinformation from various angles to<br />
understand why and when people both believe and<br />
share fake news and how to correct it.<br />
Timing Matters When Correcting Fake News<br />
“Countering misinformation can reduce belief in<br />
that moment, but corrective messages quickly fade<br />
from memory.”<br />
The Psychology of Fake News<br />
“There is…a large disconnect between what people<br />
believe and what they will share on social media,<br />
and this is largely driven by inattention rather than<br />
by purposeful sharing of misinformation.”<br />
Scaling Up Fact-Checking Using the Wisdom<br />
of Crowds<br />
“Crowdsourcing is a promising approach for<br />
helping to identify misinformation at scale.”<br />
To affirm our commitment to journalistic freedom,<br />
the <strong>IDE</strong> created a research collaboration with<br />
Rappler’s Maria Ressa with support from the New<br />
Venture Fund.<br />
This project is intended to bring truth to what’s<br />
happening in the Philippines. The primary<br />
purpose of the project is to document the use<br />
of misinformation and cyberattacks to silence<br />
journalist opposition to the Duterte regime.<br />
We also aim to scientifically analyze the online<br />
dynamics of how such attacks unfold and why<br />
they succeed or fail. Our research team has<br />
started to analyze a large data set that includes<br />
Rappler’s data, as well as detailed data on the<br />
last 20 years of election results in the Philippines<br />
to statistically analyze the spread of online<br />
misinformation and how it quells fair elections<br />
and democracy.<br />
05
AWARDS<br />
The World<br />
Takes Notice<br />
Members of the <strong>IDE</strong> community continue<br />
to change the world and earn accolades<br />
along the way.<br />
“Sinan Aral is a clear<br />
and persuasive guide to<br />
the new tech reality.”<br />
-Thinkers50<br />
THINKERS 50<br />
Under <strong>IDE</strong> Director Sinan Aral, recently named top digital<br />
thinker by Thinkers50, our award-winning researchers worked<br />
at the intersection of computing, social science, digital<br />
experimentation, and economics to decipher and explain<br />
unprecedented events.<br />
Aral received the Digital Thinking Award, as someone who has<br />
done the most to convert “the digital language of 0’s and 1’s into<br />
useful human insight.” Says Thinkers50: “Sinan Aral is a clear<br />
and persuasive guide to the new tech reality.”<br />
Also topping the <strong>2021</strong> Thinkers50 list were <strong>IDE</strong> Visiting Scholar<br />
Geoffrey Parker and <strong>IDE</strong> Co-Director Andrew McAfee. Former<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> Fellow Marshall Van Alstyne also made the list.<br />
Geoffrey Parker and Andrew MacAfee were recognized by Thinkers50.<br />
PARAMVEER DHILLON<br />
Former <strong>IDE</strong> Post-Doctoral Fellow and <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan PhD<br />
Paramveer Dhillon won the Davis Young Scholar Award from<br />
the Institute for Operations Research and the Management<br />
Sciences. Dhillon is now on faculty at the University of<br />
Michigan.<br />
DEAN ECKLES & AVINASH COLLIS<br />
As part of its Foundational Integrity Research proposal process, Facebook<br />
(now Meta) awarded funding to Dean Eckles and former <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan PhD<br />
Aviansh Collis. Of 446 proposals, Meta selected 19 winners, including<br />
Eckles’ proposal on “Measuring the Impact of Social Influence on Belief in<br />
Misinformation” and “Does Whatsapp Increase Polarization?” by Collis.<br />
MARIA RESSA<br />
Maria Ressa, <strong>IDE</strong> fellow and CEO of Rappler, was awarded the<br />
Nobel Peace Prize for her staunch advocacy of press freedom<br />
and truthful information around the globe.<br />
DAVID RAND<br />
David Rand was named one of the top business school<br />
professors under 40 years old by the annual Best 40 under 40<br />
list by Poets&Quants, which honors young professors teaching<br />
in MBA programs.<br />
JOHN HORTON<br />
John Horton won the <strong>2021</strong> INFORMS Slaughter Early Career<br />
Award and the AI/ML Rising Star Award at the <strong>2021</strong> AI, ML and<br />
Business Analytics program.<br />
06
EVENTS<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong> Seminar<br />
Series<br />
FEATURED SEMINAR<br />
KATY MILKMAN<br />
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania<br />
Mega-Studies Improve the Impact of<br />
Applied Behavioral Science<br />
Our informal seminars spotlight<br />
early results from current research<br />
projects and provocative new ideas.<br />
Katy Milkman introduces the concept of a<br />
megastudy, a technique that can accelerate<br />
the pace of discovery in behavioral science<br />
and enable scientists to more effectively<br />
inform policy-makers about improving citizens’<br />
decisions and outcomes.<br />
WATCH SEMINAR<br />
SPRING / FALL <strong>2021</strong> SEMINARS<br />
Watch select spring and fall<br />
seminars on our YouTube channel.<br />
Johan Ugander<br />
Stanford University<br />
“Measuring Network Effects<br />
Using Randomized Graph Cluster<br />
Randomization”<br />
Florenta Teodoridis<br />
USC Marshall<br />
“Could Machine Learning be a General<br />
Purpose Technology?<br />
Michael Schrage<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
“Selvesware and The Next AI:<br />
How ‘Augmented Introspection’<br />
Transforms Recommendation”<br />
Sarah Bana<br />
Stanford HAI<br />
“job2vec: Using Language Models<br />
to Understand Wage Premia”<br />
Tim Hwang<br />
Georgetown Center for Security and<br />
Emerging Technology<br />
“Online Advertising is Broken. You<br />
Won’t Believe What Happens Next”<br />
Sebastian Steffen<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of Management<br />
“Occupational Skill Compositions and<br />
the Values of Skills: Panel Estimates<br />
from 200 Million Job Postings”<br />
Nicholas Ashford<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Sloan<br />
“Actions We Can Take to Address<br />
Misinformation and Safeguard<br />
the Freedom of Speech”<br />
Sukwoong Choi<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Sloan<br />
“How Does AI Improve Human<br />
Decision-Making? Evidence from<br />
the AI-Powered Go Program”<br />
D.J. Wu<br />
Georgia Tech<br />
“Commercializing Smart and<br />
Connected Products: A Value<br />
Chain Perspective”<br />
Jonathon Hazell<br />
Princeton<br />
“AI and Jobs: Evidence from Online<br />
Vacancies”<br />
Joshua Gans<br />
Rotman School, University of<br />
Toronto<br />
“The Information Requirements of<br />
Preparing for Covid-29”<br />
Sendhil Mullainathan<br />
Chicago Booth<br />
“Algorithmic Behavioral Science:<br />
Automated Discovery of Human<br />
Bias”<br />
Cuy Sheffield<br />
Visa<br />
“The Evolution of Crypto: From<br />
Bitcoin to NFTs”<br />
Ron Berman<br />
UPenn Wharton<br />
“False Discovery in A/B Testing”<br />
Sonia Jaffe<br />
Microsoft Research<br />
“The Effects of Remote Work on<br />
Collaboration Among Information<br />
Workers”<br />
Avi Goldfarb<br />
Rotman School, University of<br />
Toronto<br />
“Quantum Economic Advantage”<br />
Siddharth Suri<br />
Microsoft Research AI<br />
“Ghost Work: The Labor that<br />
Powers AI”<br />
Sophie Calder-Wang<br />
UPenn Wharton<br />
“The Distributional Impact of the<br />
Sharing Economy on the Housing<br />
Market”<br />
Judith Chevalier<br />
Yale School of Management<br />
“Gig Work and Digital Platforms:<br />
Future of Competition for Workers”<br />
Hal Gregersen<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Sloan<br />
“Managing the Human Side of<br />
Digital Disruption”<br />
07
EVENTS<br />
High Impact,<br />
High Visibility<br />
Events continue to be our primary means<br />
for spreading our research insights far<br />
and wide.<br />
CONFERENCE ON DIGITAL<br />
EXPERIMENTATION (CoDE)<br />
The ever-growing attendance at <strong>MIT</strong> CoDE<br />
reflects the tremendous interest among data<br />
professionals and academics in online testing<br />
methods. This year’s two-day event was the<br />
largest in its 14-year history, a testament to the<br />
rise in these online testing methods.<br />
500<br />
REGISTERED<br />
ATTENDEES<br />
8<br />
PLENARY<br />
SPEAKERS<br />
100<br />
PARALLEL<br />
SESSIONS<br />
CoDE convenes leading researchers conducting and analyzing large-scale randomized experiments in digitally mediated<br />
social and economic environments, in various scientific disciplines including economics and computer science.<br />
VIEW SELECT SESSIONS<br />
THE <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong> SOCIAL MEDIA SUM<strong>MIT</strong><br />
(SMS @ <strong>MIT</strong>)<br />
SMS@<strong>MIT</strong> brought together social technology luminaries<br />
to examine one of the most critical and compelling<br />
issues of our time —the impact of social media on our<br />
democracies, our economies, and our public health. The<br />
ambitious vision of this first event was not just to identify<br />
problems but to craft meaningful solutions to the social<br />
media crisis that promote the promise of social media<br />
and avoid its perils. The free event drew an impressive<br />
20,000 attendees, the largest event ever hosted at <strong>MIT</strong>.<br />
The SMS@<strong>MIT</strong> is now an annual <strong>IDE</strong> flagship.<br />
Read:<br />
Social Media at a Crossroads, 25 Solutions from<br />
the Social Media Summit<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> ANNUAL CONFERENCE<br />
It’s one thing to read new research<br />
reports and analysis; quite another<br />
to hear and see the author explain<br />
their work first-hand, even if it’s<br />
virtual. The goal of our annual<br />
conference is to connect the dots<br />
between scholarly data and the<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> members and sponsors who<br />
need actionable insights from our<br />
research every day. Attendees had<br />
the opportunity to interact with<br />
researchers, discuss studies, and<br />
determine how their organization—<br />
or society as a whole—can benefit<br />
from this cutting-edge work.<br />
The day offered a fast-paced, winwin<br />
interchange where members<br />
gained access to <strong>IDE</strong> experts and<br />
the <strong>IDE</strong> team learned lessons from<br />
practitioners in the field.<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> ANALYTICS LAB (A-LAB)<br />
The <strong>MIT</strong> Analytics Lab offers an<br />
opportunity for <strong>IDE</strong> stakeholders<br />
to submit projects and data to <strong>MIT</strong><br />
graduate student teams that will<br />
use analytics, machine learning,<br />
and other methods of analysis to<br />
develop results that will diagnose,<br />
enable, or uncover solutions to real<br />
business issues and opportunities.<br />
The <strong>2021</strong> Pitch Day was<br />
held on September 18. The<br />
<strong>2021</strong> Final Presentations<br />
were held on December<br />
DIGITAL MEDIA & PRINCIPLED<br />
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN<br />
GROWTH MARKETS<br />
Maria Ressa, the Philippines’ first<br />
Nobel Prize Laureate, joined the <strong>IDE</strong><br />
for a special, live event.<br />
Ressa, who is the founder of<br />
Rappler and <strong>IDE</strong> digital fellow,<br />
spoke with Sinan Aral about the<br />
impetus of founding Rappler and<br />
how she and the company have<br />
used principled entrepreneurship<br />
to leverage their platform for<br />
social change. She also shared her<br />
successes and lessons learned as a<br />
leader and public figure.<br />
The November 17 event was<br />
produced in conjunction with The<br />
Legatum Center for Development<br />
and Entrepreneurship at <strong>MIT</strong>.<br />
PLATFORM STRATEGY SUM<strong>MIT</strong><br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> hosted the internationally<br />
recognized Platform Strategy<br />
Summit for the ninth year running.<br />
An impressive lineup of engaging<br />
leaders and researchers examined<br />
how platform ecosystems attract<br />
new business partners, streamline<br />
operations, and optimize digital<br />
technologies. Songtradr, the<br />
world’s largest music licensing<br />
marketplace, selected artists David<br />
Davis and Alice Pisano to perform<br />
live for our audience.<br />
08
EDUCATION<br />
Action + Learning =<br />
The Future<br />
As always, education is at the core of what<br />
we do. We take pride in ensuring that the<br />
insights derived by our researchers find<br />
practical application and understanding for<br />
our stakeholders and the broader community.<br />
A-TEAMS DELIVER DATA-DRIVEN RESULTS<br />
Successful implementation of business analytics requires<br />
leading-edge tools and sophisticated data modeling skills—<br />
exactly what <strong>MIT</strong> Analytics Lab (A-Lab) students know best.<br />
This year, 25 student teams worked with their sponsor<br />
organizations on a wide range of data-set problems—from<br />
examining talent pipelines, to predicting real estate metrics,<br />
and analyzing stock replenishment at local grocers. Their<br />
analytical acumen yielded cost-saving results for the<br />
businesses—and awards for the student teams.<br />
Below (L-R): Kim Adler, Tiana<br />
Cui, Grace Garbrecht, and<br />
Zijin Wang of Lasso Ladies.<br />
On December 3, the teams presented their semester-long<br />
projects to a panel of judges that chose a winner based<br />
on creativity, execution, and business value. The winning<br />
student team worked with Atlassian, a maker of software<br />
collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, and<br />
AtlassianMarket. The students worked on a project titled<br />
“Marketing Attribution: Uncovering the Most Influential<br />
Campaigns.” They found that the most effective way to<br />
convert leads to actual sales includes multiple intermediary<br />
touchpoints such as webinars, trials, and website resources.<br />
Congratulations to the winning A-Lab team ‘Lasso Ladies.’ representing Atlassian, who will have their<br />
names etched on the silver winners’ cup. Above (L-R): Justin Fortier (Head of Data Science at ViralGains &<br />
A-Lab Judge), Renée Gosline (<strong>IDE</strong> Research Group Lead & A-Lab Judge), Grace Garbrecht (student), Kim<br />
Adler (student), Tiana Cui (student), Zijin Wang (student), Yael Davidan (Senior Director at Chewy & A-Lab<br />
Judge), Sinan Aral (<strong>IDE</strong> Director & A-Lab Professor).<br />
Executive<br />
Education<br />
In <strong>2021</strong>, <strong>IDE</strong> faculty and<br />
researchers continued to launch<br />
and contribute to best-in-class<br />
executive education courses.<br />
Renée Richardson Gosline launched her<br />
new course, Breakthrough Customer<br />
Experience (CX) Strategy. In this highly<br />
interactive program, Gosline demonstrates<br />
how state-of-the-art behavioral economics<br />
can be combined with leadership strategy<br />
to develop innovative marketing strategy<br />
and competitive advantage.<br />
Sinan Aral taught Executive Education<br />
courses on Digital Marketing Analytics<br />
and Social Media Strategy. Participants<br />
gained practical insight into how to<br />
apply digital marketing measurements<br />
and analysis and how to harness social<br />
media effectively and ethically.<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Digital Fellow Michael Schrage<br />
and Douglas Ready, a senior lecturer at<br />
the <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of Management,<br />
taught the executive course,<br />
Reimagining Leadership: A Playbook for<br />
the Digital Economy in February.<br />
09
TEAM<br />
<strong>IDE</strong> Team<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> relies on the<br />
expertise and dedication<br />
of a committed group of<br />
individuals.<br />
LEADERSHIP<br />
Sinan Aral<br />
Director, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of Management<br />
Andrew McAfee<br />
Co-Director and Principal Research Scientist,<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
RESEARCH GROUP LEADS<br />
Dean Eckles<br />
Associate Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of<br />
Management<br />
Renée Richardson Gosline<br />
Senior Lecturer, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of<br />
Management<br />
John Horton<br />
Associate Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of<br />
Management<br />
Andrew McAfee<br />
Co-Director, Principal Research Scientist, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
Alex “Sandy” Pentland<br />
Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Media Lab<br />
David Rand<br />
Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan School of Management<br />
RESEARCHERS<br />
Daron Acemoglu<br />
Professor, <strong>MIT</strong> Economics Department<br />
Wang Jin<br />
Research Associate, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
Kristina McElheran<br />
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto<br />
Geoffrey Parker<br />
Professor, Dartmouth College<br />
Georgios Petropoulos<br />
Research Scientist, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
Jonathan Ruane<br />
Visiting Scientist, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong><br />
Neil Thompson<br />
Research Scientist, <strong>MIT</strong> <strong>IDE</strong> & CSAIL<br />
DIGITAL FELLOWS<br />
Timothy Aeppel<br />
<strong>Report</strong>er, Reuters<br />
Matt Beane<br />
Assistant Professor, Technology<br />
Management Program, University of<br />
California, Santa Barbara<br />
DIGITAL FELLOWS (CONTINUED)<br />
Seth Benzell<br />
Assistant Professor, Argyros School of Business<br />
and Economics, Chapman University<br />
Thomas Davenport<br />
Professor, Babson College<br />
Alan Davidson<br />
Digital Economy Director, U.S. Department of<br />
Commerce<br />
Paramveer Dhillon<br />
Assistant Professor, University of Michigan<br />
Apostolos Filippas<br />
Assistant Professor, Gabelli School of Business,<br />
Fordham University<br />
Joshua Gans<br />
Professor, University of Toronto Rotman School<br />
of Management<br />
Shane Greenstein<br />
Professor, Harvard Business School<br />
David Holtz<br />
Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business,<br />
University of California, Berkeley<br />
John Irons<br />
Senior VP & Head of Research, Siegel Family<br />
Endowment<br />
Tod Loofbourrow<br />
CEO, ViralGains<br />
Christos Nicolaides<br />
Assistant Professor, University of Cyprus<br />
Claudia Perlich<br />
Data Scientist, Two Sigma<br />
Maria Ressa<br />
CEO, Rappler<br />
Daniel Rock<br />
Assistant Professor, Wharton School, University<br />
of Pennsylvania<br />
Michael Schrage<br />
Visiting Fellow, Imperial College Department of<br />
Innovation and Entrepreneurship<br />
John Van Reenen<br />
Professor, London School of Economics<br />
Irving Wladawsky-Berger<br />
Visiting Lecturer, <strong>MIT</strong> Engineering Systems<br />
PhD CANDIDATES &<br />
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES<br />
Nuruddin Ahmed<br />
Postdoctoral Associate<br />
Sukwoong Choi<br />
Postdoctoral Associate<br />
Zanele Munyikwa<br />
PhD Candidate<br />
Sebastian Steffen<br />
PhD Candidate<br />
Hong-Yi TuYe<br />
PhD Candidate<br />
Yuan Yuan<br />
PhD Candidate<br />
VISITING SCIENTISTS<br />
Tamay Besiroglu<br />
University of Cambridge<br />
Erik Metz<br />
BASF<br />
Leonardo Serra<br />
Capgemini Consulting<br />
STAFF<br />
Joanne Batziotegos<br />
Finance Administrator<br />
Tammy Buzzell<br />
Associate Director<br />
Devin Cook<br />
Associate Director<br />
Paula Klein<br />
Contributing Writer and Editorial Content Director<br />
Adjovi Koene<br />
Administrative Assistant II<br />
Aileen Menounos<br />
Senior Administrative Assistant, <strong>MIT</strong> Sloan<br />
A-Lab Coordinator<br />
Carrie Reynolds<br />
Assistant Director of Communications and<br />
Marketing<br />
David Verrill<br />
Executive Director<br />
10
OUR SUPPORTERS<br />
Thank You<br />
We are grateful for the ongoing<br />
support of our advisors, donors,<br />
and corporate members. Thank<br />
you for joining our <strong>IDE</strong> community.<br />
FOUNDATIONS<br />
Center for Global Enterprise<br />
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation<br />
Ford Foundation<br />
Google.org<br />
Joyce Foundation<br />
JPMorganChase Foundation<br />
<strong>MIT</strong>-IBM Watson AI Lab<br />
CORPORATIONS<br />
Accenture (Founding Member)<br />
Deutsche Bank (Founding Member)<br />
3M<br />
AB InBev<br />
Adobe Systems, Inc.<br />
Amazon.com, Inc.<br />
Autodesk, Inc.<br />
Staying Focused in<br />
a Spinning World<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> team adapts to digital changes all around us.<br />
David Verrill<br />
Executive Director<br />
Nasdaq<br />
BASF<br />
ADVISORY BOARD<br />
Mitchell Baker<br />
Chairwoman and Co-Founder, Mozilla<br />
Carl Bass<br />
Former President and CEO, Autodesk<br />
Marc Benioff<br />
CEO, Salesforce<br />
Mary Callahan Erdoes<br />
CEO of Asset and Wealth Management,<br />
J.P. Morgan<br />
Reid Hoffman<br />
CEO, Linkedin<br />
James Manyika<br />
Director, McKinsey Global Institute<br />
Marissa Mayer<br />
Co-Founder, Lumi Labs<br />
Eric Schmidt<br />
Technical Advisor, Alphabet<br />
Robert Solow<br />
<strong>MIT</strong> Professor of Economics and<br />
Nobel Laureate<br />
Michael Spence<br />
NYU Professor of Economics and<br />
Nobel Laureate<br />
New Venture Fund<br />
Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation<br />
Rockefeller Foundation<br />
Russell Sage Foundation<br />
TDF Foundation<br />
INDIVIDUALS<br />
Nobuo N. Akiha<br />
Wesley Chan<br />
Aaron Cowen<br />
Joe Eastin<br />
Michael Even<br />
Ellen and Bruce Herzfelder<br />
Reid Hoffman<br />
Richard B. Homonoff<br />
Edward S. Hyman, Jr.<br />
Gustavo Pierini<br />
Gustavo Marini<br />
Tom Pappas<br />
Jeff & Liesl Wilke<br />
and other individuals who prefer to<br />
remain anonymous<br />
Benefitfocus<br />
Boston Globe Media Partners<br />
Bruegel<br />
Capgemini<br />
Center for Global Enterprise<br />
Dell EMC<br />
Facebook<br />
General Motors<br />
Grant Thornton<br />
Graphika, Inc.<br />
IRC4HR<br />
KPMG<br />
MassMutual<br />
Modis<br />
Microsoft<br />
Schneider Electric<br />
The SWIFT Institute<br />
Despite the continuing pandemic<br />
in <strong>2021</strong>, our remote yet technologyenabled<br />
world continued to spin.<br />
We embraced the circumstances<br />
as best we could. I am so very<br />
proud of our staff, who have<br />
not only remained unbelievably<br />
productive, but empathetic to the<br />
inevitable issues of an existential<br />
change to the way we work and<br />
live. Finance Administrator, Joanne<br />
Batziotegos; Associate Director of<br />
Finance, Tammy Buzzell; Associate<br />
Director, Devin Cook; Editorial<br />
Content Director, Paula Klein; and<br />
Assistant Director of Marketing<br />
and Events, Carrie Reynolds: You<br />
are all amazing. This small team<br />
packages, promotes, and presents<br />
our ideas for a broad audience –<br />
from our generous stakeholders<br />
(the individuals, corporations, and<br />
foundations named above) to<br />
academia, public policy pundits,<br />
and the press.<br />
<strong>2021</strong> was a year in which we<br />
deepened our focus on six<br />
new areas of research: Renée<br />
Richardson Gosline leading The<br />
Human/AI Interface; Dave Rand<br />
leading Misinformation & Fake<br />
News; Dean Eckles heading<br />
up Social Networks & Digital<br />
Experimentation; John Horton<br />
focusing on Labor Economics &<br />
Online Marketplaces; Andy McAfee<br />
driving Tech for Good; and “Sandy”<br />
Pentland leading our Data-Driven<br />
Societies efforts. And we launched<br />
several new research projects,<br />
including Quantum Computing<br />
(Neil Thompson, Andy McAfee,<br />
and Jonathan Ruane) and the<br />
Metaverse and Digital Assets<br />
(Sinan Aral). Watch for more on<br />
these in 2022.<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> continues to be at the<br />
forefront of how new technologies<br />
impact individuals, industry, the<br />
economy, and society. We don’t<br />
shy away from difficult or politically<br />
fueled topics. We analyze<br />
them. We put them into context.<br />
And we do so with a directive for<br />
positive change.<br />
The <strong>IDE</strong> is unique, essential,<br />
and ever-more needed in our<br />
accelerating digital world. We<br />
appreciate the support of our<br />
stakeholders and the <strong>MIT</strong> and <strong>MIT</strong><br />
Sloan ecosystems that allow us to<br />
thrive.<br />
May the coming year treat us all<br />
well.<br />
11