BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Growth Lab - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Growth Lab REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20170312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20171105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20180311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20181104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20190310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20191103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20200308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20201101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200915T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200915T130000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175429Z CREATED:20200903T180100Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175429Z UID:14919-1600171200-1600174800@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Growth Lab Viz Hub Launch Event DESCRIPTION:The Growth Lab is thrilled to announce the launch of our Viz Hub\, a portfolio of award-winning\, interactive visualizations powered by our research and discoveries. Join us on Tuesday\, September 15th at 12PM EST for the official launch of the Viz Hub featuring Growth Lab Director Ricardo Hausmann\, Senior Software Product Manager Annie White\, and Senior Manager of Applied Research Tim O’Brien. This event will showcase the many projects included on the Viz Hub\, provide a live demonstration of the Hub\, and explain its significance to the Growth Lab’s Applied Research initiatives in countries throughout the world.   This event will be held virtually on Zoom\, please register in advance to secure your spot.   About the Viz Hub: Over the last decade\, our portfolio of visualization tools has emerged through the close collaboration between the Growth Lab’s Digital Development & Design team and our Academic and Applied Research units. Our flagship tool\, the Atlas of Economic Complexity\, exemplifies this collaboration by showcasing research\, datasets and pedagogy developed across multidisciplinary teams and countless iterations. Since its launch in 2013\, the Atlas has been complimented by sub-national Atlases\, country dashboards\, interactive stories\, open source software packages and working prototypes.   All projects found on the Viz Hub are built in-house by the Growth Lab’s Digital Development & Design Team\, an interdisciplinary group that connects economic and policy research with best practices from information design\, software development\, data science\, product management and digital humanities. We believe that easy-to-use software can be a vital channel to effectively interpret and analyze complex concepts. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/growth-lab-viz-hub-launch-event/ LOCATION:Virtual\, Zoom Webinar CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200518T153000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200518T163000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175428Z CREATED:20200511T195800Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175428Z UID:14961-1589815800-1589819400@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Measuring Soft Skills and the Science of Human Potential DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Deming\, Director\, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy\, HKS; Professor of Public Policy\, HKS; Professor of Education and Economics\, HGSE. About the Speaker: David Deming is a Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School\, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research\, and the Faculty Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. His research focuses broadly on the economics of skill development\, education and labor markets. He is a Principal Investigator (along with Raj Chetty and John Friedman) at the CLIMB Initiative\, an organization that seeks to study and improve the role of higher education in social mobility. Deming also studies the “future of work”\, in particular focusing on how technology changes the labor market returns to skills and the resulting implications for college and career pathways. He recently won the David N. Kershaw Prize\, which is awarded biannually to scholars who have made distinguished contributions to the field of public policy and management under the age of 40. He is currently serving as a coeditor at the AEJ: Applied. Please RSVP below for this event. Zoom details will be shared with registered participants on the day of the event. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/measuring-soft-skills-and-the-science-of-human-potential/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200518T104500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200518T114500 DTSTAMP:20250910T002032Z CREATED:20200511T194300Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T002032Z UID:14925-1589798700-1589802300@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Immigration and the Global Labor Force Before and After Covid-19 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Gordon Hanson\, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy\, Harvard Kennedy School.About the Speaker: Gordon Hanson is the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research\, a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and co-editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Hanson received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1992 and his B.A. in economics from Occidental College in 1986. Prior to joining Harvard in 2020\, he held the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego\, where he was founding director of the Center on Global Transformation. Hanson previously served on the economics faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Texas. In his scholarship\, Hanson specializes in international trade\, international migration and economic geography. He has published extensively in top economics journals\, is widely cited for his research by scholars from across the social sciences and is frequently quoted in major media outlets. Hanson’s current research addresses how globalization in the form of immigration and expanded trade with China have affected U.S. local labor markets. In a new endeavor\, he is working with a multidisciplinary team of scholars to use satellite imagery to assess the impacts of expanding transportation networks\, exposure to extreme weather\, and related events on urban economic activity. Please RSVP below for this event. Zoom details will be shared on the day of the event. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/immigration-and-the-global-labor-force-before-and-after-covid-19/ LOCATION:Zoom CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200306T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200306T140000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175428Z CREATED:20200218T210800Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175428Z UID:15083-1583499600-1583503200@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:You Get What You Pay For: Sources and Consequences of the Public Sector Premium in Albania and Sri Lanka DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ljubica Nedelkoska\, Postdoctoral Fellow\, Growth Lab About the Talk: We study the factors behind the public sector premium in Albania and Sri Lanka\, the group heterogeneity in the premium\, the sources of public sector wage compression\, and the impact of this compression on the way individuals self-select between the public and the private sector. Similar to other countries\, the public sectors in Albania and Sri Lanka pay higher wages than the private sector\, for all but the most valued employees. While half of the premium of Sri Lanka and two-thirds of it in Albania are explained by differences in the occupation-education-experience mix between the sectors\, and the level of private sector informality\, the unexplained part of the premium is significant enough to affect the preferences of working in the public sector for different groups. We show that the compressed distributions of public sector wages and benefits create incentives for positive sorting into the public sector among most employees\, and negative sorting among the most productive ones. Work co-authored with Ricardo Hausmann and Sehar Noor. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/you-get-what-you-pay-for-sources-and-consequences-of-the-public-sector-premium-in-albania-and-sri-lanka/ LOCATION:Bell Hall (B500)\, Belfer Building 5th floor\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab,Speaker Series END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200214T103000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200214T120000 DTSTAMP:20250910T002114Z CREATED:20200210T201700Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T002114Z UID:14929-1581676200-1581681600@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Information Session: Inclusive Growth in India - A Cities Approach DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Amit Kapoor\, CEO of Institute for Competitiveness\, India About the Event: The Government of India though the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) is embarking on a 5-year research initiative implementing the Growth Lab’s groundbreaking methodologies – economic complexity and growth diagnostics. Join Amit Kapoor\, CEO of IFC\, February 14th 2020\, at 9.30am in L-382 (HKS) as he shares details of the project. MoHUA and IFC are building the India-based research team and will be here on campus looking for candidates. Taking advantage of the concurrent India Conference at Harvard\, this session will be an informal gathering to learn about an exciting new opportunity to work on economic development and inclusive growth in India. The research project will further the understanding of growth dynamics at the sub-national level in India\, by providing research and tools to help policy makers\, private sector representatives\, academics\, and think-tanks rethink their development strategies. The proposed research collaboration would be the first-of-its-kind at the sub-national level in India. This research engagement will yield inputs that will inform the Ministry\, the IFC\, and other relevant stakeholders\, in their process of designing productive development policies (PDPs) aimed at accelerating growth by leveraging existing capacities at the regional level and country level. Members of the Growth Lab will also participate in this session to help facilitate discussion. If you cannot join in person but are still interested in learning more\, submit your name and email address and we’ll be in touch. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/information-session-inclusive-growth-in-india-a-cities-approach/ LOCATION:Littauer Building\, L-382\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191204T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191204T143000 DTSTAMP:20250910T004528Z CREATED:20191119T214600Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T004528Z UID:15063-1575464400-1575469800@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:The Double Crisis: Insecurity and Humanitarian Plight at the Colombia-Venezuela Border DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Annette Idler\, Visiting Scholar\, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs\, Harvard University About the Talk:  Drawing on her book Borderland Battles: Violence\, Crime\, and Governance at the Edges of Colombia’s War (Oxford University Press\, 2019) and her latest research findings\, Annette Idler reveals why the Colombian-Venezuelan borderlands are enabling crucial but largely unacknowledged interactions between Venezuela’s devastating crisis and ongoing political violence in Colombia. She discusses how the so-called border effect has facilitated violence\, undermined trust relationships\, attracted numerous violent non-state groups including conflict actors\, drug cartels\, and gangs\, and obscured the nuanced realities of multiple insecurities. Failure to tackle these issues could have serious long-term implications for stability in the region. This makes long-term plans for sustainable peace and security across and along the border an urgent necessity. About the Speaker: Annette Idler is Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. She is also the Director of Studies at the Changing Character of War Centre\, Senior Research Fellow at Pembroke College\, and at the Department of Politics and International Relations\, University of Oxford. She is Principal Investigator of The Changing Character of Conflict Platform and of the CONPEACE Programme at Oxford. Annette Idler has conducted extensive fieldwork in war-torn and crisis-affected borderlands\, including in and on Colombia\, Ecuador\, Venezuela\, Myanmar\, and Kenya (on Somalia) analysing people-centred security dynamics. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/the-double-crisis-insecurity-and-humanitarian-plight-at-the-colombia-venezuela-border/ LOCATION:Wexner G-02\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191119T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191119T152000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175428Z CREATED:20191106T200000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175428Z UID:14864-1574172000-1574176800@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Development Beyond Crisis Response: The Evolution of the Growth Lab's Involvement in Albania DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ricardo Hausmann\, Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy; Director\, Growth LabErmal Frasheri\, Senior Research Fellow\, Growth Lab Moderator: Ljubica Nedelkoska\, Postdoctoral Fellow\, Growth Lab About the Talk: Since 2013\, the Growth Lab has worked with the Government of Albania to identify policies that target country-specific binding constraints in order to promote strong\, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Join Ricardo Hausmann and the Growth Lab’s Albania team in a conversation on how long-term engagement has shaped the project’s goals and outcomes. What differentiates the Growth Lab work in Albania? How has it evolved in response to country needs over time? What impact has the work had? What lessons can be learned from the engagement so far? What comes next for the Growth Lab in Albania? This event will discuss what our continuing work in Albania means for both this project and country policy engagements as a whole. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/development-beyond-crisis-response-the-evolution-of-the-growth-labs-involvement-in-albania/ LOCATION:Allison Dining Room\, Taubman 520 CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191017T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191017T190000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175428Z CREATED:20191011T185800Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175428Z UID:14936-1571335200-1571338800@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Learning Policy in Practice: Insights from Growth Lab Interns in Albania\, Saudi Arabia\, & Sri Lanka DESCRIPTION:Moderator: Daniela Muhaj\, Research Fellow\, Growth Lab Featuring HKS Students: Damian Galinsky (MPA/ID; Albania)\, Uriel Kejsefman (MPA/ID; Albania)\, Shivani Mishra (MPA/ID; Albania)\, Sarah Mousa (MPP; Saudi Arabia)\, David Franklin (MPA/ID; Sri Lanka) About the Discussion: This is the third and final panel discussion of the Growth Lab’s Learning Policy in Practice series\, featuring students who completed their 2019 summer internship in coordination with Growth Lab applied research projects. This event will feature stories from the field\, examples of engagements with government stakeholders\, as well as policy analysis and highlights from their analytical work from interns who worked in Albania\, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. This is an opportunity to ask the students questions about working alongside policymakers in different contexts\, to understand current issues affecting economic growth in the countries’ where they worked\, and to learn about each intern’s unique internship experience through the Growth Lab. First-year students can expect to get a sense of summer internship opportunities\, and second year students will have a chance to share perspectives of their different experiences in international development. Pizza and refreshments will be provided!   URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/learning-policy-in-practice-insights-from-growth-lab-interns-in-albania-saudi-arabia-sri-lanka/ LOCATION:Wexner G-02\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191010T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191010T190000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175428Z CREATED:20191001T183500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175428Z UID:14938-1570730400-1570734000@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Learning Policy in Practice: Insights from Growth Lab Interns in Jordan DESCRIPTION:Moderator: Miguel Santos\, Director\, Applied Research\, Growth Lab; Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy\, HKSFeaturing MPA/ID Students: Mustafa Serbest\, Chatra Kamseng\, Abdulhamid Haidar About the Event: Join the 2019 Growth Lab Interns to learn about their summer experiences in Jordan. This panel discussion will feature stories from the field\, examples of engagements with government stakeholders\, as well as policy analysis and highlights from their analytical work. This is an opportunity to ask the interns specific questions about their summer\, to understand current issues affecting economic growth in Jordan\, and to learn about each intern’s unique internship experience through the Growth Lab. First year students can expect to get a sense of summer internship opportunities\, and second year students will have a chance to share perspectives of their different experiences in international development.  URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/learning-policy-in-practice-insights-from-growth-lab-interns-in-jordan/ LOCATION:WEX-G02 CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191003T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191003T180000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175427Z CREATED:20190924T221200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175427Z UID:14937-1570122000-1570125600@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Learning Policy in Practice: Insights from Growth Lab Interns in Ethiopia DESCRIPTION:Moderator: Nikita Taniparti\, Research Fellow\, Growth LabPanel Speakers: Jason Keene; Apratim Gautam; Vishal Potluri About the Event: Join the 2019 Growth Lab Interns to learn about their summer experiences in Ethiopia. This panel discussion will feature stories from the field\, examples of engagements with government stakeholders\, as well as policy analysis and highlights from their analytical work. This is an opportunity to ask the interns specific questions about their summer\, to understand current issues affecting economic growth in Ethiopia\, and to learn about each intern’s unique internship experience through the Growth Lab. First year students can expect to get a sense of summer internship opportunities\, and second year students will have a chance to share perspectives of their different experiences in international development.  URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/learning-policy-in-practice-insights-from-growth-lab-interns-in-ethiopia/ LOCATION:WEX-G02 CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190918T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190918T173000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175427Z CREATED:20190903T200300Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175427Z UID:14804-1568823300-1568827800@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Atlas of Economic Complexity: Country Profiles Launch & Livestream DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ricardo Hausmann\, Rafiki Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy; Director\, Growth LabAnnie White\, Senior Product Manager\, Growth LabTim Cheston\, Senior Manager\, Applied Research\, Growth Lab \n About the Event: Join us for the launch of an exciting new tool to our Atlas of Economic Complexity: Country Profiles.  \n The Country Profiles are a new\, interactive journey through a country’s economic structure and growth patterns\, which reveals the strategy necessary to achieve greater prosperity. This first-of-its-kind platform revolutionizes how to think about economic strategy\, policy\, and investment opportunities for more than 130 countries.  \n Each Country Profile offers a step-by-step explanation of a country’s economic complexity – past\, present\, and future. Across 10 unique data visualizations\, this story-telling tool is both descriptive and predictive\, with analysis and insights that are entirely data-driven. \n The event will feature the research and technology behind the tool\, as well as an exclusive demonstration from our Atlas team.   \n Livestream the event on Twitter @HarvardGrwthLab! URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/atlas-of-economic-complexity-country-profiles-launch-livestream/ LOCATION:Wexner 436\, Fourth Floor\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190302T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190302T193000 DTSTAMP:20250804T224132Z CREATED:20190214T015400Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250804T224132Z UID:14797-1551517200-1551555000@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:2019 Latin American Conference DESCRIPTION:About the Conference: The 2019 Latin American Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School will be the 6th edition of this student-organized conference. This conference aims at generating a space to analyze the region’s main challenges through a debate featuring political actors\, social leaders\, policy experts and practitioners with a leadership position in Latin America. This is a platform to foster discussion and learning by encouraging the participation of students and faculty of Harvard and other institutions. \n For tickets and more information\, please visit https://www.latamconference.org/ URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/2019-latin-american-conference/ LOCATION:Littauer Building\, 1st Floor\, HKS CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181030T114500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181030T130000 DTSTAMP:20250910T004521Z CREATED:20181010T221100Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T004521Z UID:15062-1540899900-1540904400@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:The Challenge of Driving Prosperity: Growth Diagnostics and Sustainable Development DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Miguel Angel Santos\, Senior Research Fellow\, CID (Jordan\, Panama\, Venezuela\, sub-national Mexico)Douglas Barrios\, Research Fellow\, CID (Venezuela\, sub-national Mexico)Tim O’Brien\, Research Fellow\, CID (Sri Lanka\, Albania\, Jordan) About the talk: This panel discussion will focus on how to overcome the implementation challenges that arise when doing growth diagnostics\, make high bandwidth development policies politically viable\, and combine economic growth with social and environmental sustainability. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A with the speakers.  About the speakers: Miguel Angel Santos is an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government\, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University. At CID\, he has been involved in various research projects aimed at helping governments to rethink their development strategies\, both at the national and sub-national levels. Since he joined CID in August 2014\, he has been involved in projects at the national level in Mexico\, Panama\, and Venezuela\, and at the sub-national level in Mexico in the states of Chiapas\, Baja California\, Tabasco and Campeche; and the city of Hermosillo at Sonora state. He has also performed as project manager in the projects leading to the build-up of the Mexican Atlas of Economic Complexity\, and the Peruvian Atlas of Economic Complexity. Before joining the field of international development\, Miguel worked for ten years in corporate finance and business development in Latin America\, performing as Director of Finance for the Cisneros Group of Companies (1997-2003)\, Head of Corporate Finance for Mercantil Servicios Financieros (2005-2007)\, and Business Vice-President for Sony Pictures and Entertainment Latin America (2008-2009). At that point\, he decided to switch tracks and get involved in development economics. He holds two Master of Science degrees in International Finance and Trade (2011) and Economics (2012) from Universitat Pompeu Fabra\, a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University (2014)\, and a Ph.D. in Economics at Universidad de Barcelona (2016). He was the head of the Macroeconomic Policy Team for presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski in the Venezuelan elections of 2012. Douglas Barrios joined the Center for International Development’s Growth Lab as a Research Fellow in 2013. Before joining CID he worked in McKinsey’s Bogotá office as a Public Sector Specialist where he served public and social sector organizations throughout Latin America in a broad set of topics ranging from ICT promotion strategies to education policy design. Other previous experience include serving as an external policy adviser for local governments as well as political campaigns in Venezuela. His research interests are focused on urban dynamics\, natural resource extraction and rent management\, behavioral economics and the political economics behind policy design. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidad Metropolitana (Venezuela) and a Masters in Public Administration and International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA-ID 2012). Tim O’Brien joined CID in 2015 and has worked on both Growth Lab and Building State Capability projects. He has led growth diagnostic research in Albania and Sri Lanka. Tim holds a Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) degree from the Harvard Kennedy School and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University. Tim served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi from 2008-2010 and has experience working with the World Bank and in environmental engineering. Tim’s research interests center on the challenges of economic transformation and adapting to climate change in developing countries and vulnerable communities. Sponsored by International Development Professional Interest Council\, a Harvard Kennedy School student organization.  URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/the-challenge-of-driving-prosperity-growth-diagnostics-and-sustainable-development/ LOCATION:Perkins Room (R429) – Rubenstein 4th Floor CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20180509T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20180509T140000 DTSTAMP:20250916T175425Z CREATED:20180503T185500Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250916T175425Z UID:14818-1525869000-1525874400@growthlab.hks.harvard.edu SUMMARY:CID Growth Lab Seminar: Why Can't *Sri Lanka* Be First (In Software)? DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Sanjiva Weerawarana\, Founder\, Chairman and Chief Architect of WSO2 \nAbout the talk: This talk is Sanjiva Weerawarana’s story of returning to Sri Lanka in 2001\, starting an open source foundation\, starting a business\, joining the army and building software of all kinds. Sanjiva lived in the US for 16 years before that (his entire adult life) and has now been back for nearly 17 years. This talk will discuss his experiences and why he thinks Sri Lanka can easily become a leading technology creating country. He will also discuss how diaspora who genuinely want to\, can practically play a role in improving Sri Lanka. About the speaker: Sanjiva Weerawarana is Founder\, Chairman and Chief Architect of WSO2\, where he leads the design\, architecture and development of Ballerina. After starting WSO2 in 2005\, Sanjiva lead the creation of a complete set of middleware products before deciding to throw them all away and start again with a programming language approach. Prior to starting WSO2\, he was at IBM Research where he led the development of Web services standards and technologies. He’s a long time open source developer and advocate and is a Member of the Apache Software Foundation\, an Emeritus Board Member of the Open Source Initiative and Founder and Chief Scientist of the Lanka Software Foundation. He also volunteers in the Sri Lanka Army where he serves as the IT advisor. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University in 1994. URL:https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/event/cid-growth-lab-seminar-why-cant-sri-lanka-be-first-in-software/ LOCATION:WEX 102 – Wexner Building\, 1st Floor CATEGORIES:Growth Lab END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR