The Governance Lab, known as The GovLab, is an action-research organisation focused on improving people’s lives by changing how governance works. Its stated aim is to help institutions and the public work more openly, collaboratively, effectively and legitimately to make decisions and solve public problems.26
Founded at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, The GovLab was co-founded by Beth Simone Noveck and Stefaan Verhulst. Noveck directs the lab and is now a professor at Northeastern University, where she also directs the Burnes Center for Social Change; The GovLab is described as a partner project of that centre.34 Its New York roots are reflected in its former NYU address in Brooklyn, though the available sources do not establish a current registered office.5
The lab’s work combines research and practical development. It builds and tests platforms for collaborative problem-solving, studies governance innovations around the world, trains people developing public-interest projects, and connects practitioners and researchers across disciplines.2 Its portfolio spans data, civic participation and public-sector technology. Projects listed on its website include the Open Data Policy Lab, InnovateUS, the Observatory of Public Sector AI, AI for Impact, CrowdLaw, and the 100 Questions Initiative.91
Among its urban-facing initiatives, City Challenges invited the public to define pressing problems and propose solutions. In 2019, The GovLab announced a Multi-City Challenge programme intended to run in five Mexican cities, working with local partners to help residents and cities design responses to public challenges.11 Its work therefore reaches beyond New York, with projects and research addressing governance challenges across countries and levels of government.25