As education networks proliferate, many are wrestling with the question of how, exactly, to measure networks’ unique impact. What data should be collected, and through what methods? And perhaps most important, why measure in the first place?

Networks are in vogue these days as top-down hierarchies lose their luster and centralized planning shows it is not nimble enough to address fast-changing facts on the ground. Learning networks are rooted in the economic development strategy known as “cluster development,” which taps into the power of regional concentrations of firms, workers, and industrial know-how to form a hub of talent and expertise. Doing so enhances the competitiveness of individual firms and regional economies. Just look at Cleveland with medical device manufacturing or St. Louis with biomed.

The Brookings Institution’s Bruce Katz says “innovation districts” are the way of the future—places where groups cluster together to share ideas and collaborate. In Pittsburgh, our network of learning innovation uses the same principals.

A new Aspen Institute report focuses on building strong learning networks that facilitate learning anytime, anyplace, while keeping kids safe online.