Biography
Nigel Jacob is a civic designer and technologist whose work explores how communities shape the institutions and technologies that affect their lives.
Nigel co-founded and led Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, helping establish an approach to public innovation grounded in experimentation, collaboration, and residents' everyday experiences. Across more than two decades, he has worked with government, universities, community organizations, and civic entrepreneurs to turn emerging ideas into practical public work.
His current work includes Neighborhood AI, an initiative developing community-governed AI infrastructure with Boston neighborhood partners. It explores how AI can help communities preserve civic memory, connect local knowledge, hold institutions accountable, and strengthen their capacity to determine and pursue their own priorities.
Nigel brings a practitioner's perspective to a central question: how can AI strengthen collective judgment and self-governance while keeping authority with the people and communities it serves?
Nigel co-founded and led Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, helping establish an approach to public innovation grounded in experimentation, collaboration, and residents' everyday experiences. Across more than two decades, he has worked with government, universities, community organizations, and civic entrepreneurs to turn emerging ideas into practical public work.
His current work includes Neighborhood AI, an initiative developing community-governed AI infrastructure with Boston neighborhood partners. It explores how AI can help communities preserve civic memory, connect local knowledge, hold institutions accountable, and strengthen their capacity to determine and pursue their own priorities.
Nigel brings a practitioner's perspective to a central question: how can AI strengthen collective judgment and self-governance while keeping authority with the people and communities it serves?