#  2026 Esri Innovation Prize Winner 

 





March 31, 2026

 

 

The 2026 Esri Innovation Prize has been awarded to Harvard College student Matthew Scott Tan for the entry “*Cloudy with a Chance of Compute: Mapping the hidden geography of AI compute across 8,000 cities — and who it leaves behind”***.** Judges comments included:

“An extremely relevant GIS project that explores an impactful research question relevant to all of us and our lives – what is the spatial footprint of AI and cloud computing?”

“The project is well developed, presenting a solid statistical methodology, clear and intuitive maps, and engaging storytelling using a variety of Esri GIS software.”

“By enabling analysis at multiple geographic scales, Matthew demonstrates a strong understanding of geospatial technologies, their capabilities, and how to apply them to both global and regional scales. The story map presentation allow users to easily navigate all phases of the project and understand the different methodologies applied, as well as highlight the key findings. Overall, an outstanding job.”

Congratulations Matthew!

View the award winning [story map](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/744a1c433d554cef8b3861d72836fdd2).

View [EIP award details and previous winners](https://gis.harvard.edu/awards).



 

 

 



 

 

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