The Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) is an inter-university partnership between Northeastern and Harvard Universities that pursues original urban research on the cutting edge of scholarship and public policy, with an emphasis on opportunities created by novel digital data. BARI focuses on three major areas of activity: 1. Pursuing core research-policy partnerships and projects that use modern data to probe major themes and challenges facing greater Boston. 2. Developing the Boston Data Portal to make emergent data sources accessible for research, policy, and practice. 3. Convening and supporting Boston's civic data ecosystem through seed grants, events, and an online network.