About Us
The Global Opportunity Lab is an interdisciplinary team of scholars and data scientists using frontier methods in machine learning, economics, and large-scale data analysis to tackle the world’s most urgent policy challenges. We partner with governments, NGOs, and local institutions to solve problems that defy conventional solutions. Our work is published in leading academic journals, and designed for maximum impact – to ensure that state-of-the-art solutions get out of the ivory tower and into the hands of decision makers.
Areas of Focus
Social Protection and Crisis Response
Measuring poverty and vulnerability
Technology for development
Financial services for the poor
Climate, migration, and displacement
Governments and humanitarian organizations often struggle to identify and support those most in need during times of crisis. We apply cutting-edge methods from statistics and artificial intelligence—along with innovations in remote sensing and digital trace data—to help direct assistance to vulnerable populations precisely when they need it most. Through close partnerships with governments and NGOs, we design and rigorously evaluate new approaches to delivering social protection at scale.
Accurate and up-to-date information on household living conditions are essential for designing effective and timely policies and interventions. We develop and rigorously evaluate innovative approaches that use non-traditional data — such as data from satellite and mobile phone networks – to generate actionable estimates of poverty and vulnerability. These tools are faster and more cost-effective than traditional surveys, and enable adaptive social protection systems that respond in real-time to changing conditions.
Digital technologies are reshaping how people access information, markets, and opportunity; they also have the potential to transform how governments and organizations deliver services, allocate resources, and respond to the needs of vulnerable populations. We work with public and private partners to design, deploy, and scale technology-enabled solutions that expand economic opportunity and improve institutional performance. From expanding digital infrastructure to building real-time data systems and AI-powered decision tools, our work focuses on using technology not for its novelty, but for its ability to drive measurable, inclusive, and lasting impact.
Access to affordable, secure financial services is essential for poverty reduction and economic resilience, yet billions of people remain excluded from formal financial systems. We study how data and digital technologies can expand access to credit, savings, and insurance for underserved populations. Through partnerships with banks, fintechs, and development agencies, we design alternative credit scoring models, digital financial inclusion strategies, and policy tools to improve financial access for poor and vulnerable households. Rigorous impact evaluations help ensure that research insights translate into scalable, real-world solutions.
Climate shocks are reshaping patterns of migration, livelihoods, and vulnerability—often with the greatest burden falling on the poorest and most exposed communities. We work with governments and humanitarian organizations to better anticipate the social and economic impacts of climate stress, and to design systems that protect vulnerable populations before, during, and after environmental crises. We develop new ways of using digital data and predictive algorithms to identify who is most at risk, where displacement is likely to occur, and how to make adaptation strategies more effective.
