NRT-FW-HTF-HDR: PLATFORMS FOR EXCHANGE AND ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES (PEAR)

The increasing digitization of the economy and resulting growth of digital platforms like ride-hailing apps and energy trading platforms have dramatically altered how individuals, organizations and governments exchange and allocate resources. By 2025 it is estimated over $60 trillion per year (~30 percent of world revenue) will be mediated by digital platforms.

These platforms have disrupted multiple industries, upended labor economics and practices, and fundamentally transformed resource management, asset allocation and market design. While digital platforms have democratized provision and access to services and products with low entry and transaction costs, the larger impact on society is not fully understood.

It is critical that the developers of new platform technologies no longer simply be trained as engineers and computer scientists, and that policy makers and regulators must understand the ecosystems around digital platforms. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Northeastern University, University of Houston, and Hampton University (two of three of which are minority-serving institutions), entitled Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources (PEAR), will develop convergent, transdisciplinary training providing students with (1) the capacity to integrate applicable findings and theories in business, policy and social science into ethical engineering design and practice and vice versa, (2) the ability to succeed in emerging and dynamic work environments that are yet to be regulated, and (3) the understanding of how technological innovations create value for different stakeholders and impact society at large.

This project anticipates training 80+ MS and PhD students, including 22 stipended fellows, from a range of doctoral programs at Northeastern University (NU) or University of Houston (UH), a new Master’s in Engineering Entrepreneurship at Hampton University (HU) – the university’s first engineering graduate degree – or one of the two new graduate certificate programs at NU or UH.

The PEAR training model is guided by evidence-based best practices in teaching, mentoring and learning, with an emphasis on best practices for interdisciplinary learning and engagement of underrepresented populations. Through carefully curated coursework and experiences, structured mentoring and professional development, and stakeholder co-designed research opportunities, PEAR Fellows will be trained to understand and contribute to the future of digital platforms and their impact on equitable distribution of economic opportunities in society, sustainable consumption, fair access to goods and services, ethically informed technology design, and the re-shaping of labor and business practices.

These professionals will be ready to define and contribute to the future of work at the human technology frontier and to harness the data revolution (two NSF Big Ideas) in multiple sectors such as energy, health, transportation, logistics, housing, computing, policy, and beyond. PEAR is a collaboration that combines each institution’s strengths: NU’s leadership in experiential learning, Hampton’s in engineering entrepreneurship and teaching, and UH’s engineering partnerships particularly in the energy sector – to develop three new graduate programs.

Formal external evaluation will document outcomes to contribute to the body of knowledge on effective models for graduate education in convergent research areas such as digital platforms.

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.