Initiatives

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the important role digital skills and literacy play in shaping access to public benefits and perceptions of public policies. Despite the importance of digital skills and digital literacy, the knowledge base pertaining to these issues in relation to public policy formation remains largely anecdotal.

The Digital Equity Initiative will explore the role of digital skills and technology in shaping administrative burdens associated with access to public assistance programs funded by the State of New Jersey. This research will be accomplished with the goal of improving the quality of evidence used by state policymakers by offering rigorous, mixed method empirical assessments of digital skills and literacy and how they impact different aspects of New Jerseyans’ relationship with the state.

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in greater economic uncertainty. It is now more important than ever to provide state policymakers with economic policy recommendations based on rigorous evidence-based analysis.

The mission of the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service (R/ECON™) is to improve the quality and accessibility of tools for economic forecasting and policy simulation. R/ECON, with the support of the New Jersey Policy Lab, will employ a comprehensive set of tools to provide accurate and timely assessments of the New Jersey economy.

The Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) works in public domains to improve the process of decision-making in order to yield results that satisfy interests and meet public needs. CNCR also works to improve dispute resolution processes. We believe that solutions that work–and last–are more likely to be achieved by constructive negotiation, consensus-building and problem-solving than by force or adversarial argument.