Mapping the gov/acc research space with Metagov
The challenge
Metagov’s gov/acc working group needed to map a fast-moving research domain: who is working on what, which problems converge, and where the gaps are. A standard survey wouldn’t surface that, and a literature review couldn’t keep pace with a field moving this quickly.
The approach
Harmonica ran structured interviews with 30 researchers across the gov/acc community. Each conversation followed a consistent interview flow so the inputs stayed comparable, while the AI facilitator adapted its follow-ups to each researcher. As sessions closed, the platform extracted the emerging taxonomy and published it in two forms: an interactive dashboard and a cross-linked Quartz wiki.
What came out of it
- 30 interviews with researchers across the community
- 11 problems the field is converging on
- 31 solutions in progress or proposed
- 43 actors working across the space
Every entry resolves to its source: each claim in the wiki links back to the interview it came from, so the map is auditable, not just a summary.
Why it works
The pipeline runs end to end. Interviewers join from anywhere, the dashboard updates as sessions close, and the published outputs stay tied to the underlying conversations. The result is a living map of the domain that the working group can keep extending, rather than a static report that goes stale the week it ships.