Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE)

Digital technologies are transforming businesses, economies, and societies more quickly and more profoundly than ever before. These technologies are creating unprecedented wealth, underpinning innovation in all sectors, converting science fiction into everyday reality, and bringing many benefits to people throughout the world. In short, there is a new industrial revolution taking place driven by hardware, software, and networks – and MIT is at the forefront.

Research at the Institute has been instrumental in highlighting the challenges we will face as we move deeper into a computerized, interlinked economy. As technology races ahead, it is leaving many people behind; a phenomenon reflected in current statistics about inequality, mobility, and unemployment. The choices that we make now are important and will affect how the benefits of technology will flow throughout society.

Harnessing the potential of digital technologies is both a great opportunity and a grand challenge. We have launched the Initiative on the Digital Economy to meet this grand challenge by adding to our faculty, our curriculum, and our research effort. To learn more about the IDE, and how you can participate, please click here.