I am so very pleased to send along a warm Season’s Greeting to all of the IDE stakeholders.  We rely on you – individual donors, corporate members, and foundations – to make it possible for us to do this important work. The digital economy is at the center of just about every global event and every critical issue we confront today. And so is the IDE, with our globally recognized, science-based research, education, events, and our new podcast – the Digital Insider with Sinan Aral – driving knowledge and understanding.

Our work is a team effort and we’re proud of a long list of accomplishments, as well as many awards, accolades, and IDE achievements this year by faculty, students and staff.  2022 was a year in which we deepened our research and sharpened our goals. We’ve launched new research areas, produced the most papers in our history, had the largest number of attendees at our events, and refined our mission.  We’ve whittled those accomplishments to 22 successes in 2022, so enjoy reading the list below.

With your help, the IDE is Shaping a Brighter Digital Future, as our new mission statement says. Thank you for your support, and best wishes for an exciting, prosperous, and brighter future in 2023 and beyond!

David L. Verrill (Sloan ’87)

Executive Director, MIT IDE

22 Accomplishments in 2022

1.The Digital Insider with Sinan Aral Podcast, launched in June is already one of the Top 20 marketing podcasts in the U.S.

2. Launch of the Quantum Computing Prize with Accenture.

3.  Quantum Computing: “Are Your Ready for the Quantum Leap?” by Jonathan Ruane and Accenture. And Andrew McAfee and Jonathan Ruane, Quantum Computing for Business Leaders. Harvard Business Review, 2022.

4. Human-First AI: Research by Renée Gosline on Human-AI interface and algorithmic bias Why AI Customer Journeys Need More Friction.

5. The Future of Computing: Neil Thompson, et. al. IEEE Spectrum. Here’s How to Make Deep Learning More Sustainable.

8.  Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland: Global Fintech: Financial Innovation in a Connected World, Outstanding Academic Title Award from Choice, 2022.

9. More than 10,000 attendees at the Social Media Summit @ MIT.

10. The 10th Anniversary of the Platform Strategy Summit was held in person with more than 350 participants and a special half-day program focused on healthcare.

11. Twelve IDE Lunch Seminars that expanded our community and presented exciting new work.

12. The Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE@MIT) brought together more than 350 leading researchers from academia and industry.

13. Held our successful first CMO Summit@MIT.

14. Professor Abdullah Almaatouq – Winner of the Wade Award, Most Inspiring Research Paper Award (ACM).

15. Professor John Horton – Best Paper Award (INFORMS)

16. Post-Doc Rebecca Wenjing Lyu – Best Paper Finalist (AOM)

17. Post-Doc Madhav Kumar – MSI Clayton Best Dissertation Award, MIT Sloan Best Dissertation Award

18. Lecturer Jonathan Ruane – Successfully summited Mount Everest!

19. Our Mission Statement has been revised to reflect a proactive approach to solving some of the biggest issues of our digital economy and Shaping a Brighter Digital Future. We’ve bolstered our research focus themes, which now number at eight, adding two new areas:

20. Sinan Aral  will focus on the new area of Web3@MIT.

21. Neil Thompson will focus on the new area of Technologies that Create Prosperity.

22. We’ll continue to study these six critical areas with our leading experts:

• Andy McAfee – Tech for Good.
• John Horton – AI, Marketplaces and Labor Markets.
• Dean Eckles – New Analytics.
• Renée Gosline – Human-First AI.
• Dave Rand – Misinformation and Fake News.
• Sandy Pentland – Building a Distributed Economy.

WATCH FOR MORE DETAILS IN THE NEW YEAR!