![]() ![]() The team designed 6 different iterations of a mobile app based on 38 prototype feedback sessions. The team designed a broad mobile app that simplifies common tasks for Veterans, like making a medical appointment. Through 64 interviews and surveys with Veterans, the team discovered that many Veterans weren’t aware of their eligibility for benefits and couldn’t always find the answers they needed on the VA website. Moreover, an increasing number of Veterans were accessing the VA website via smartphones. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve the digital experience for Veterans. Team VA : A student team -Jeremiah Hay, Taylor Thomas, and Lien Tran-partnered with the U.S. The start of Demo Day, with over 90 students, faculty, clients, and guests participating. And they came away with a learning experience that I hope they carry with them throughout their careers. They found creative ways to build and test products with real people and produce remarkable results for their government clients. Over 90 students, clients, and supporters of the class watched five student team presentations, after my brief introduction to the class and a keynote from Matt Lira, Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of American Innovation.ĭespite the pandemic, each student team delivered an impressive presentation. Seven weeks later, on May 8th, DPI-663 hosted its 5th annual Demo Day. Some of them were working from their homes many time zones away. But I was re-energized and, after some experimentation, confident that we could make it work. I knew it was going to be harder for me and the teaching team, for the clients whose priorities were changing, and most critically, for the students. I also called our government clients, asking for their opinions. They said that these projects, and the students’ experiences, matter now more than ever-given how essential digital government is during a pandemic. If the students could be scrappy, still somehow create forward momentum, and help solve real-world challenges in the face of a global pandemic, this may be the best applied lesson in public sector entrepreneurship yet. Weighing these concerns, I thought of one of the concepts I want the students to learn: public sector entrepreneurship.Įvery year I argue to the class that students should “ hack bureaucracies with empathy”-build momentum for their work, and get creative, impactful things done in government. Typically, students spend time with real people in the community to understand their needs-and test proposed solutions with those people. I was skeptical the class would still work. The class is designed to get students out of the Harvard bubble and engage with the Boston community. With the new COVD-19 challenges facing our government clients, would these student projects even matter? Was this really the most important thing we should be working on? And as a practical matter, could this class function in a remote-only format? The student teams conduct field research, prototype and test possible solutions, and present their findings at a Demo Day at the end of the semester. Students learn teamwork, human-centered design, product management, storytelling, and public sector entrepreneurship. Check out the class website.) (As context, the class pairs student teams with government clients to solve real-world problems. Should we-as a teaching team and a group of talented students-pivot to focus on helping the COVID-19 response? I wondered if the work of DPI-663 even mattered anymore, especially given the suffering and loss of life here in the Boston area. As I sat at my desk typing out a mid-semester course announcement, I couldn’t help but wonder if we should even continue the class. In the span of one week in March, COVID-19 forced many of my students to leave Boston, transforming my field lab into an online class. (It was my fifth year teaching DPI-663: Tech and Innovation in Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a milestone I’m proud to reach.) This past spring semester I faced my first crisis of confidence as an instructor. ![]()
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