Maria Christina Binz-Scharf was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She received her doctorate in Business Economics (Dr.oec.) from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. From 2001 to 2003 she was a visiting doctoral fellow at the Kennedy School of Government on a grant awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. She holds a Master's degree in business economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

Her research interests are information technology and organizational behavior, social networks, and organizational theory. In her dissertation she examined the role of knowledge sharing in the implementation of Internet-related innovation projects. Based on extensive empirical data, she developed a theory suggesting that the implementation of these projects requires a balanced mix of knowledge exploration and exploitation where, due to the degree of task decomposability, exploration is more important in the conceptual phase of the project, and exploitation becomes more fruitful in the implementation phase. She is currently working with Professor David Lazer examining the role of the Internet in the diffusion of learning across governmental units exemplified in the use of DNA in the criminal justice system. Prior to her stay at Harvard, Maria Christina Binz-Scharf co-founded and managed the Center of Excellence for Electronic Government at the Institute of Public Services and Tourism at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.