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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | August 2019

  Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up

  Leslie John and Mitch Weiss

  Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
  
  The case serves as a microcosm of issues of digital privacy: the availability of data – personal data in particular – has tremendous potential to improve people’s lives and commercial endeavors alike, but it also introduces a host of privacy perils. How can the benefits of this availability of personal data be realized while mitigating the pitfalls? Concern over firms’ use and misuse of consumers’ data has been increasing, fueling a debate surrounding the regulation of online privacy. In this case, students debate this question, and devise a framework of different approaches to resolving these issues. The case provides a ripe area of inquiry for privacy issues: so-called “platform” companies, and especially platforms that run adjacent to, or even in public space. Cities are among the most ancient type of “platform,” providing a foundation for users of all types (individuals, organizations, companies) to interact, exchange, and innovate. Where platforms rely on users to generate and share data, privacy issues abound; Sidewalk Toronto is no exception.

  Keywords: privacy; privacy by design; Privacy Regulation; platforms; data; data security; behavioral science;

  Citation:

  John, Leslie, and Mitch Weiss. "Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 820-023, August 2019. (Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2019 (Revised August 2019)

  KangaTech

  Karim R. Lakhani, Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

  On a warm January afternoon in 2019, Steve Saunders, Dave Scerri, Carl Dilena, and Nick Haslam (see Exhibit 1 for biographies), co-founders of KangaTech, wrapped up the latest round of discussions about the future direction of their sports-technology start-up. Focused on injury prediction and prevention in elite sport, the Melbourne, Australia-based KangaTech prepared to launch a new model of their core product, an integrated exercise frame and software system that used strength exercises to identify and mitigate the risk of soft-tissue and ligament injuries (see Exhibit 2 for overview of product). The team was excited about the new product and was confident that it improved upon many of the features of the previous model. However, Saunders and his co-founders couldn’t help but think about the long-term strategy of the company.
  Spun off in 2015 out of an internal R&D initiative at the North Melbourne Football Club, KangaTech spent the past four years squarely focused on product development and gaining early traction in the elite sports markets in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia (see Exhibit 3 for company timeline). As of 2019, KangaTech had users across 15 different sites, including professional teams in the National Basketball Association, the English Premier League, and the Australian Football League. The company also underwent a successful round of financing recently, and the proceeds of which were used to fund the new version of the KangaTech product.
  Off the back of this recent success, the co-founders were focused on how they might be able to navigate the future ahead of them. Dilena explained, “We are going through a pretty robust strategy discussion at the moment. It is one of those decision points for us as to how we best proceed.” Dilena continued, “We’ve been largely product-based and product-development-based until now. How do we scale up? How do we take that next quantum leap as an organization? So part of that has been looking at where do we see the market opportunities?” Specifically, KangaTech weighed up three options for unlocking the full commercial value of the company’s technology: 1) Going deeper into the sports market; 2) Expanding into the allied health market; or, 3) Pursuing contracts in the defense industry. Evaluating the merits of each of these options was not clear. Which market had the greatest upside? Which market would expose the firm to the greatest risk? Which of these opportunities held the most promise for KangaTech?

  Keywords: Startup; technology commercialization; prototype; Business Startups; Technological Innovation; Sports; Health; Commercialization; Research and Development; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Sports Industry; Health Industry; Australia;

  Citation:

  Lakhani, Karim R., Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik, and Steven Randazzo. "KangaTech." Harvard Business School Case 619-049, February 2019. (Revised August 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2018 (Revised July 2019)

  Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up

  Leslie K. John, Mitchell Weiss and Julia Kelley

  Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
  
  By the time Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, began hosting a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session in January 2018, he had only nine months remaining to convince the people of Toronto, their government representatives, and presumably his parent company Alphabet, Inc., that Sidewalk Labs’ plan to construct “the first truly 21st-century city” on the Canadian city’s waterfront was a sound one. Along with much excitement and optimism, strains of concern had emerged since Doctoroff and partners first announced their intentions for a city “built from the internet up” in Toronto’s Quayside district. As Doctoroff prepared for yet another milestone in a year of planning and community engagement, it was almost certain that of the many questions headed his way, digital privacy would be among them.

  Keywords: public entrepreneurship; govtech; CivicTech; smart cities; city innovation; government innovation; privacy; Sidewalk Labs; Dan Doctoroff; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Consumer Behavior; Governance; Business and Government Relations; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Transportation Industry; Real Estate Industry; Canada;

  Citation:

  John, Leslie K., Mitchell Weiss, and Julia Kelley. "Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up." Harvard Business School Case 819-024, October 2018. (Revised July 2019.) (Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.)  View Details

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