IKNS Capstone Projects

IKNS Capstone Projects

The final course and culminating experience for IKNS students is the Capstone Project: Working in teams, and guided by IKNS faculty, students carry out an advising project with one of IKNS' many trusted sponsors. Are you curious what it's like to work on an organization's internal taskforce and advise your colleagues on innovative digital solutions towards greater success? Want to experience working on an external consulting team, using state of the art tools from information science and organizational psychology to devise and implement recommendations towards lasting change? That's what the Capstone experience is about.

During this final course, students will hone the practical skills and deepen the understanding of the academic frameworks they acquired during the IKNS curriculum - and enjoy tremendous opportunities for networking with leading global corporates, non-profits, or NGOs.

To gain deeper insights into the innovative solutions our students have developed, check out the recordings of some of our recent IKNS Capstone presentations.

How IKNS Capstone Projects Work

• IKNS capstone projects are 15-week "pro bono" consulting-style engagements between IKNS graduate students and your organization aimed at solving a pressing challenge or relieving an organizational pain point related to core IKNS curriculum pillars: data & analytics, people & organizational networks, integration & strategy.
• No two capstone projects are the same but students generally follow a standard process from September to December where they go through Planning & Discovery, Analysis & Strategy Definition, Recommendations, and Delivery. 

Successful capstone projects require close collaboration between student teams and sponsoring organizations. As such, weekly or bi-weekly meetings are expected between the student teams and the organizational sponsor(s) and access to other organizational stakeholders (4-5+) over the 15-week engagement for interviewing, strategy definition, and recommendation validation is essential.

Apply to Become a Capstone Sponsor

Have an idea for a project? Columbia's IKNS program accepts applications from Capstone sponsors year round on a rolling basis. Please find more information below - and apply via the online form. All types of projects and organizations will be considered - for profit, non-profit, NGOs , and regardless of the organization's size - as long as we feel that the proposed project will present an excellent learning opportunity for our students. Note that IKNS does not accept financial contributions from sponsors. Please contact cjm2177@columbia.edu for any inquiries. 

More info on IKNS Capstone (view slide deck)

Apply as a sponsor (online form)

We thank our previous & current sponsors (selection):