Beth Simone Noveck
Professor and Director, The Burnes Center for Social Change
Education
University of Innsbruck, PhD 1994
Yale Law School, JD 1997
Bio
Professor Noveck directs The Burnes Center for Social Change and its partner project, The GovLab. She is a faculty member of the Institute for Experiential AI, School of Law, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, College of Arts, Media and Design, College of Engineering and an affiliated faculty member of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences.
At Northeastern, Professor Noveck directs AI for Impact and its InnovateMA co-op program in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Through AI for Impact, students use artificial intelligence and human-centered design to deliver cutting-edge projects that solve public sector problems and improve lives.
Professor Noveck’s work focuses on using AI to reimagine participatory democracy and strengthen governance, and she has spent her career helping institutions incorporate more equitable and open ways of working using new technology. Together with Citizens Foundation, she is designing and building AI-enabled tools to enhance collective intelligence and participatory problem solving. She blogs about AI, democracy and governance at Reboot Democracy.
In 2024, Governor Murphy appointed her as chief AI strategist for the State of New Jersey. Previously, she served as the state’s founding chief innovation officer. In that role, Professor Noveck and her team used new technology to improve equitable government delivery of services. The Office of Innovation worked with partner agencies to modernize unemployment insurance, provide a whole-of-government response to COVID, collect real-time infection data, deliver everything needed to start, run and grow a business, and use open data to provide training information to job seekers and improve uptake of benefits, services and permits. She also served as chair of the state's Future of Work Task Force.
Previously, Professor Noveck served in the White House as the first US deputy chief technology officer under President Obama. She founded the White House Open Government Initiative, which worked across government to create policies and platforms, such as data.gov and challenge.gov, for making the federal government more transparent, participatory and collaborative. She previously served on the Library of Congress Kluge Scholars Council and the Global Commission on Internet Governance.
Professor Noveck served as senior advisor for open government for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, and between 2018-2021, she served on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Digital Council. Among her many early civic technology projects, Professor Noveck created Unchat, one of the first online platforms for democratic engagement, and Peer-to-Patent to connect scientists to policymakers to improve the patent process. Two decades before the Metaverse, she designed Democracy Island in Second Life and later such projects as OrgPedia to foster corporate transparency or Ask A Scientist to crowdsource answers to COVID questions in collaboration with Federation of American Scientists and other uses of civic tech to deliver better government services. She also founded and hosted the State of Play conferences on law, games and virtual worlds.
In addition to her current course on AI for Impact, Professor Noveck is the founder of open, online courses such as Solving Public Problems for social innovators in more than 100 countries, Open Justice for legal innovators, and InnovateUS for public sector professionals. InnovateUS delivers free, philanthropically funded training in AI, innovation and problem-solving skills designed to help improve how public professionals make policy and delivery services.
The author of three earlier books, including Solving Public Problems: How to Fix Our Government and Change Our World (Yale Press 2021) (named a Best Book of 2021 by Stanford Social Innovation Review), Professor Noveck’s newest book is Democracy Rebooted: How AI Can Save Democracy.
She was named one of the Foreign Policy 100 by Foreign Policy, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, a Top Women in Technology by Huffington Post, and one of the World’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government by Apolitical. She was awarded the doctorat honoris causa from the University of Geneva in October 2023.
You can find her latest TEDx talk here.
Fields of Expertise
- Law and Society
- Law and Technology
- Public Interest Advocacy
- Social Justice
Selected Works
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- Solving Public Problems (Yale University Press, 2021).
- Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing (Harvard University Press, 2015).
- Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger and Citizens More Powerful (Brookings, 2009).
- The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds (NYU Press, 2005) (co-editor).
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- “Responding to Mass, Computer-Generated, and Malattributed Comments,” 74 Administrative Law Review 95 (2022) (co-author).
- “Randomistas vs. Contestistas,” Stanford Social Innovation Review (November 23, 2021).
- “Mass, Computer-Generated, and Mal-attributed Comments,” Administrative Law Review (2021) (co-author).
- “The Innovative State,” Dædalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Special issue on the administrative state in the United States in the twenty-first century, Mark Tushnet, ed., (150 (3) Summer 2021).
- “Old Dog, New Tricks: Retraining and the Road to Government Reform,” Democracy Journal (2021).
- “Smarter Crowdsourcing: Education - New Measures of Non-Academic Learning,” The GovLab (2021).
- “Smarter Crowdsourcing COVID-19: A Playbook of Innovative Legal, Technical, and Policy Proposals and a Guide to their Implementation,” GovLab/Inter-American Development Bank White Paper (December 2020).
- “Public Entrepreneurship and Policy Engineering: Training the Next Generation of Leader and Problem Solver,” 62 Communications of the ACM 29 (December 2019).
- “Our Opportunity for More Data-Driven Nonprofit Program Evaluation” Stanford Social Innovation Review (Jan 24, 2018) (co-author.
- “Rights-based and Tech-Driven: Open Data, Freedom of Information, and the Future of Government Transparency,” 19 Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal 1 (2018).
- “Is Open Data the Death of FOIA?,” 126 Yale Law Journal 273 (2016).
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- “CrowdLaw,” in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs, eds. P. Harris et al. (Springer, 2021).
- Foreword in “The State of Open Data: Histories and Horizons,” eds. T. Davies et al. (African Minds, IDRC, 2019).
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- “ChatGPT Was Born in San Francisco. Why Isn’t the City Fully Embracing AI Yet?,” San Francisco Chronicle (July 14, 2023).
- “Should I Use Generative AI for Hiring?,” TechRepublic (July 10, 2023).
- “Better Government Tech Starts With People. New Jersey Shows How,” The Washington Post (June 13, 2023).
- “New AI Video Tutorial Focuses on Public-Sector Needs,”GovTech (May 10, 2023).
- “7 Skills to Save the World,” TEDxNortheasternU (August 2022).
- “Federal Digital Academy: CIO Bund Sets Up Expert Council,” Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (July 5, 2022).
- “Should I Use Generative AI for Hiring?,” Tech Republic (July 10, 2023).
- “Three years after the pandemic recession, signing up for unemployment still isn’t easy,” Marketplace (June 26, 2023).
- “Boston creates staff guidelines on the use of generative AI,” Cities Today (May 22, 2023).
- “Boston isn't afraid of AI,” Wired (May 19, 2023).
- “New AI Video Tutorial Focuses on Public-Sector Needs,” Government Technology (May 10, 2023).
- “Can A.I. and Democracy Fix Each Other?,” The New York Times (April 2023).
- “Australia's Justice Systems are Prioritising Cost Efficiency and Productivity. Some Experts Have Concerns,”ABC.net (April 2023).
- “New Jersey Launches Information Hub for Trans Individuals,” Government Technology (April 4, 2023).
- “New N.J. Website Aims to Help Transgender and Non-binary Residents,” NJ.com (April 4, 2023).
- “Murphy Announces Website to Connect Transgender, Non-binary People with Resources,” The Daily Targun (April 3, 2023).
- “Governor Murphy Launches New Transgender Information Hub,” TAPintoMorristown (April 1, 2023).
- “Murphy launches ‘Transgender Information Hub'” New Jersey Globe (March 31, 2023).
- “New N.J. Website Aims To Help Transgender And Non-Binary Residents,” Knewz.com (March 2023).
- “ChatGPT: Risks and Opportunity for Public Comments in Rulemaking,” American Bar Association, Administrative Law Section (March 2023).
- “Managerialism and Our Obsession with Hierarchy,” ABC Radio National (February 2023).
- “State of Innovation: NJ Business Beat with Rhonda Schaffler,” NJPBS (February 2023).
- “OSINT is supported by the collective intelligence of the Internet,” The Asahi Shimbun Globe (November 2022).
- “Book Review: Solving Public Problems – A Practical Guide to Fix Our Government and Change Our World,” Association for Computing Machinery (August 4, 2022).
- “7 Skills to Save the World | Beth Noveck,” TEDxNortheasternU (July 25, 2022).
- “Federal Digital Academy: CIO Bund Sets Up Expert Council,” Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (July 5, 2022).
- “Today's Problems, Tomorrow's Toolkit: The Public Sector and the Future of Work,” FWD50 (May 10, 2022).
- “The Only Good Thing Left About Facebook,” The Atlantic (April 28, 2022).
- “Public Availability of Electoral Roll Data Raises Privacy Concerns,” The Kathmandu Post (April 28, 2022).
- “ROI Influencers: Technology 2022 — Beth Noveck,” ROI-NJ (April 22, 2022).
- “Northeastern Launching $20M Social Change Research Center,” Boston Business Journal (April 15, 2022).
- “A Center for Social Change at Northeastern that Won’t be Afraid to Take Chances,” The Boston Globe (April 14, 2022).
- “Northeastern Launches the Burnes Center for Social Change,” News@Northeastern (April 14, 2022).
- “Book Review: Solving Public Problems by Beth Simone Noveck,” Apolitical (April 11, 2022).
- “Stories from the Frontier,” Aspen Institute (April 5, 2022).
- “Podcast Episode: Your Tax Dollars At Work,” Electronic Frontier Foundation (April 5, 2022).
- “Solving Public Problems: An Interview with Dr. Beth Simone Noveck,” Chicago Policy Review (March 23, 2022).
- “Hey, It's a Start!,” Democracy: A Journal of Ideas (February 2, 2022).
- “Uno Tiene que Tener Una Visión de Por Qué Usar la Tecnología en Primer Lugar,” El Mercurio (January 10, 2022).
- “Transmite CNN Chile: Espacio Público Invita a Seminario Internacional Sobre Aprendizajes y Desafíos de la Crisis Sanitaria,” CNN Chile, (January 6, 2022).
- “SSIR’s 2021 Social Innovation Reading List,” Stanford Social Innovation Review (December 20, 2021).
- “100 Most Influential Academics in Government,” Apolitical (December 17, 2021).
- “Top Reads of 2021,” eRepublic (December 17, 2021).
- “Future-proofing the Public Sector Through Digital and Innovation Skills Training,” Apolitical, (November 23, 2021).
- “Modernizing Public Service… And Public Servants,” GovExec Daily Podcast (October 26, 2021).
- “A Conversation with Beth Simone Noveck on Solving Public Problems: How to Fix our Government and Change the World,” Thought Economics (September 4, 2021).
- “A Conversation with Beth Simone Noveck on Solving Public Problems,” Press Conference USA (podcast), Voice of America (September 3, 2021).
- “Conectarse en Red Empodera Sobre Todo a Las Mujeres,” La Vanguardia (August 23, 2021).
- “The Hidden Cost of E-Rulemaking,” American Enterprise Institute (July 28, 2021).
- “NJ Chief Innovation Officer on Problem Solving,” Bloomberg Businessweek (July 1, 2021).
- “How the Next Generation is Reshaping Political Discourse,” MIT Media Review (June 30, 2021).
- “What Draws Private Sector Tech Execs to Government?,” CIO DIVE (June 30, 2021).
- “Why Understanding Virtual World Economies Is Important For Crafting Real World Policies Today,” New World Notes (June 21, 2021).
- “Solving Public Problems,” Science Magazine (June 1, 2021).
- “Governor Murphy Announces the “Your Voice, Your Shot” Video Contest,” Insider NJ (April 28, 2021).
- “Congress’ Embrace of Technology is Slow, Hampered by Tradition,” Roll Call (April 27, 2021).
- “La Tecnología Amplía la Participación Ciudadana en la Redacción de Leyes Dentro y Fuera de EEUU,” The Chicago Tribune (April 22, 2021). Reposted in Seattle Times and Mundo Latino.
- “Will Congress Continue Using Tech Tools Forced by COVID-19?,” CQ/Rollcall (March 11, 2021).
- “Government Experts Fear Trump Left Behind a Roadmap for How to Abuse the Presidency,” The Independent, (February 9, 2021).
- “How to Have a Career in Policy—Without Being a Politician," VICE (January 21, 2021).
- “6 Lessons Cities Can Learn from New Jersey’s Cutting-edge Innovation Team," Bloomberg Cities (December 2, 2020).
- “Should the Power of the Crowd be Used to Solve our Social Problems?," Diginomica (November 20, 2020).
- “Will Trump’s Refusal to Concede Help his Base Turn out in Georgia’s Runoffs?,” The Guardian (November 17, 2020).
- “It’s Time to Talk About Voting Technology. No, Not That Kind of Voting,” Marketplace Tech, (November 16, 2020).
- “What Trump Can Do During His Lame-Duck Session,” Vox (November 9, 2020).
- “‘Stick to the Science’: When Science Gets Political,” Nature Podcast, (November 3, 2020).
- “Trump’s Latest Executive Orders Seen as Attempts to Sabotage a Biden Administration and Eliminate Diversity and Inclusion Programs,” LA Sentinel (October 29, 2020).
- “Trump Just Quietly Passed an Executive Order that Could Destroy a Future Biden Administration,” The Independent (October 23, 2020)..
- “Trump Just Signed an Executive Order Letting him Purge Thousands of Federal Workers for Disloyalty,” Vanity Fair (October 26, 2020).
- “Trump Gives Agencies More Power to Hire, Fire Fed. Workers,” Law 360 (October 22, 2020).
- “Workers Fear Losing Full-Time Jobs, No Training, Corporate Surveillance,” NJ Spotlight (September 25, 2020).
- “A Grassroots Effort to Fight Misinformation during the Pandemic,” Scientific American (September 18, 2020).
- “Google and Apple’s Rules for Virus Tracking Apps Sow Division Among States,” Politico (June 2020).
- “How Congress Can Improve Productivity by Looking to the Rest of the World,” The Hill (May 2020).
- “How to Run the World Remotely,” Vox (May 2020).
- “N.J. Hospitals Were Expected to Hit Peak Capacity Last Weekend. It Didn’t Happen. Here’s Why,” New Jersey Local News (April 2020).
- “Coronavirus Preparedness: Insurers and Medicaid Need to Relax Prescription Refills,” The Hill (March 2020)
- “How a Government Innovation Office Aims to Modernize Its Services,” Brink (February 2020).
- “Never Listen to Advice But Do Get Lots of Information,” The Commons (January 2020).
- “People Learn in Different Ways. The Way We Teach Should Reflect That,” Apolitical (January 2020).
- “A Form That Functions,” The Aspen Institute (December 2019).
- “Digital Economy: Digital democracy,” The Economist Podcast (June 2019).
- “The Future of City Innovation,” Bloomberg Cities (March 19, 2019).
- “Top 10 Books About Building Cities,” The Guardian, (March 13, 2019).
- “New Jersey Chief Innovation Officer Beth Noveck: Using Technology to Shape Policy,” US News (September 21, 2019).
- “Who Knows Best? Cities Consult Citizens for Fresh Ideas,” Thomson Reuters Foundation News, (February 12, 2019).
- “Beth Noveck on How Open Data and Direct Democracy Could Restore Our Faith in Politics,” Australian Broadcasting Corp (September 12, 2018).
- “Elections Won’t Save Our Democracy. But ‘CrowdLaw’ Could,” The Washington Post (October 2, 2018).
- “NJ’s First CIO Explains How Technology Can Improve Government Services,” NJTV News (October 1, 2018).
- “Innovation Lead Will Help New Jersey Modernize Process, Support the Tech Economy,” GovTech (August 27, 2018).
- “Artificial Intelligence and the End of Government,” Forbes (January 4, 2019).
- “Digital Crusaders: Technology Offers Weapons for the Battle Against Corruption,” IPS News (December 18, 2018).
- “Renovating Democracy From the Bottom Up,” The Washington Post (October 5, 2018).
- “NJ’s First CIO Explains How Technology Can Improve Government Services,” NJTV News (October 1, 2018).
- “New Jersey Chief Innovation Officer Beth Noveck: Using Technology to Shape Policy,” US News (September 21, 2018).
- “The Simple but Ingenious System Taiwan Uses to Crowdsource Its Laws,” MIT Technology Review (August 21, 2018).
- “Australia’s Top 4 on the Global Stage of Digital Government Influencers,” The Mandarin (August 9, 2018).
- “The Impact of Technology on Democracy,” The Wall Street Journal (November 11, 2018).
- “Citizen Participation in Law-Making and Public Policy: An Interview with Beth Simone Noveck,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (August 28 2018).
- “The Ex-White House Digital Champion Bringing Innovation to New Jersey,” Apolitical (August 23 2018).
- “New Jersey hires GovLab founder as its first Chief Innovation Officer,” Govtech (August 13 2018).
- “Best and Worst of Times: How Disruption Will Reshape Work,” Sydney Morning Herald (August 11 2018).
- “If a Robot's Eating Your Job, It's Probably Eating Your Life Expectancy Too,” Sydney Morning Herald (July 2018).
- “Managing Through Uncertainty: Why Public Servants Should Embrace Data Science,” Public Sector Digest (June 2018).
- “More Than a Coin: The Rise of Civic Cryptocurrency,” Forbes (March 2018).
- “City Challenges: Collaborative Governing for Public Problem Solving,” Forbes (January 24, 2018).
- “The Policy Labs We Urgently Need,” Governing (December 13, 2017).
- “Five Hacks for Digital Democracy,” Nature (April 20, 2017).
- “Another NHS Crisis Looms - An Inability to Analyze Data,” The Guardian (February 8, 2017).
- “The Power of Networking in Reforming Criminal Justice,” Governing (February 8, 2017).
- “Could Crowdsourcing Expertise be the Future of Government?,” The Guardian (November 30, 2016)
- “In the Fight Against Hunger, Technology Brings Power to the People,” USA Today (September 16, 2016).
- “The International Congress on Government Administration and Public Policy (#GIGAPP2016, Video): An Interview with Beth Simone Noveck.
- “The Tech Presidency - Governing in the Age of Big Data and Machine Learning (LinkedIn Speaker Series, 2016, Video): Beth Noveck’s talk at the LinkedIn Speaker Series
- “The Obama administration wanted to open up government to citizen input. Why hasn’t it worked? (The Washington Post, 2016): An interview with Beth Simone Noveck
- “Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise (#BCTECHSummit, 2016, Video): Beth Noveck’s talk at the #BCTECHSummit
- “The big data opportunity (#BCTECHSummit, 2016, Video): Panel discussion moderated by Beth Noveck at the #BCTECHSummit
- “The Tinder Approach to Fixing Our Government (The Brian Lehrer Show, 2016, Audio): Beth Noveck on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC 93.9 FM
- “Swipe Right to Fix the World: Can Tinder-Like Tech Match Solutions to Problems?,” The Guardian (December 29, 2015).
- “What Citizens Can Teach Civil Servants About Open Government,” Governing (December 16, 2015).
- “How Technology Can Make Our Democracy More Transparent,” El Pais (2015).
- “Participatory Democracy's Emerging Tools,” Governing (March 2015).
- “What Government Can Learn From Tech: A conversation with Beth Noveck, TechRepublic (November 19, 2015).
- “Demand a More Open Source Government,” (TED2012).
- “Can the Open Data Revolution Change Our Democracy,” NPR's TED Radio Hour (January 31, 2014).
Beth Simone Noveck
Professor and Director, The Burnes Center for Social Change