Introducing the Global AI Adoption Index: Measuring How AI Is Diffusing Across the World

In this Development talk, Holly Krambeck explores the unique challenge of turning proprietary data held across competing AI companies into a comparable public good, and how better measurement of AI diffusion can help governments understand emerging divides, target investments, and design more effective policies.

Speaker: Holly Krambeck, Program Manager of the World Bank Data Lab and founder of the Development Data Partnership

Moderator: Pierre-Alexandre Balland, Chief Data Scientist at CEPS, Growth Lab Associate

Growth and Structural Transformation in Morocco

Over twenty-five years Morocco built an automotive and aeronautics export base largely from scratch, expanded renewables, and positioned itself as a bridge between Europe and Africa — while still struggling with low female labor-force participation, weak educational outcomes, and a growth rate that has not delivered the convergence the country hoped for.

Karim El Aynaoui, former Director of Economics at Bank Al-Maghrib and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Moroccan Economy, joins the Growth Lab for a candid accounting: which industrial policies paid off, which did not and why, and what Morocco’s experience offers other middle-income economies attempting the same climb.

Speaker: Karim El Aynaoui, former Director of Economics at Bank Al-Maghrib and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Moroccan Economy

Moderator: Muhammed Yildirim, Director of Academic Research at the Harvard Growth Lab

Can Small Nations Compete and Win in the Age of AI? The Case of Wales

The AI revolution is reshaping the terms of economic competition — and for small nations without Big Tech headquarters or deep capital markets, the question is whether size can be an advantage rather than a constraint. Wales is a sharp test case. It industrialized early, de-industrialized hard, and has important productivity challenges to overcome. Now Adam Price MS, Wales’s Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, is betting on AI adoption, clean energy, and a rebuilt skills system to close the gap — all from a sub-national government with limited fiscal levers. Price joins the Growth Lab to discuss what Wales’s strategy reveals about the prospects for small nations in a world being reshaped by AI.

Speaker: Adam Price MS — Welsh Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy

Moderator: Ricardo Hausmann, Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Diversification Pathways for Cambodia: Insights from International Experience

More than 300 students joined Professor Ricardo Hausmann, founder and director of Harvard’s Growth Lab, for a thought-provoking discussion on Cambodia’s economic future held at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

The Growth Lab is collaborating with Cambodian government officials and the Australian Government’s CAPRED initiative to support national economic diversification, structural reforms, and data-driven investment strategies. Read media coverage about this initiative.

Revitalizing City Centers: the Case of Rio de Janeiro

Washington Fajardo, Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Cities Lab joins the Growth Lab to discuss what it takes to bring city centers back to life: which policy tools actually work to regenerate buildings and public spaces, how to finance preservation at scale, and what Rio’s experience offers other cities grappling with urban decay at their core.

Speaker: Washington Fajardo, Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Cities Lab

Moderator: Andres Fortunato, Growth Lab Research Manager

Growth Versus Development: The Peruvian Example

In this Development Talk, Roberto Chang, Professor in the Department of Economics at Rutgers University and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, discusses his recently published books “Economia Peruana ¿Milagro o Ficción?” and “Los 10 Números Que Todo Peruano Debe Conocer” and explores relevant lessons for Peru and the developing world.

Speaker: Roberto Chang, Professor of Economics at Rutgers University, Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research

Moderator: Ricardo Villasmil, Senior Research Fellow, Growth Lab

The Startup State: What Drives Economies That Innovate

What does entrepreneurship really mean, and why does it matter? America has a unique entrepreneurial edge. Its innovation engine, shaped by culture, markets, and policy has powered some of the world’s most transformative Ideas. What makes it different, and why does it continue to matter today? This conversation with Howard Wolk dives into his book, “Launchpad Republic: America’s Entrepreneurial Edge and Why It Matters”, the “secret sauce” of entrepreneurship, and examines the past, present, and future of American innovation.

Speaker: Howard Wolk Co-CEO of The Cross Country Group (CCG)

Moderator: Yariv Gabay, Wolk fellow in the Center for Public Leadership and an MC/MPA 2026 candidate at HKS

Ecuador: Economic Reactivation at the Global Crossroads and the New Commercial Era

After a decade of stagnation, Ecuador finds itself at a critical yet promising moment to revitalize its economy. With its recent return to international markets and progress in strategic trade negotiations — such as those with the United States — the country has the opportunity to launch a new stage of economic and productive development.

In this Development Talk, Minister Luis Alberto Jaramillo discusses Ecuador’s economic outlook and, in particular, how, amid a backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions and the reconfiguration of global alliances, Ecuador seeks to redefine its positioning to attract investment, boost production, and secure a future of sustained growth and stability.

Speaker: Min. Luis Alberto Jaramillo, Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, and Investment, Ecuador

Moderator: Sebastián Bustos, Senior Research Fellow

Productivity, Prosperity, and Canada’s Economic Future

In the inaugural lecture of The Canadian Standard of Living, Productivity and Innovation Lecture Series, economist Ricardo Hausmann, founder and director of the Growth Lab at Harvard Kennedy School, examines how emerging forces, including new technologies, alongside enduring factors such as natural resources, are reshaping productivity, prosperity and Canada’s economic future.

How Wyoming and New Mexico are Diversifying Fossil-Dependent Economies

Despite their reliance on coal, oil, and natural gas for revenue and jobs, Wyoming and New Mexico are actively seeking to diversify their economies amid a changing energy landscape.

In this webinar, Growth Lab research fellows Tim O’Brien and Juan Carlos Orrego Zamudio will share research insights from our work in New Mexico, including the fiscal risks of economic reliance on fossil fuels, potential growth industries, and considerations for effective state policymaking.