A
few weeks ago, I got to visit Microsoft’s annual conference of faculty
members involved in computer science research at universities around the world.
I hadn’t been able to attend the conference since I went full-time at the Gates Foundation, so I took the opportunity to talk
about how the researchers’ work might overlap with some of the foundation’s
efforts.
A lot of the
faculty members wanted to know how they could help and how we can all bring
more bright people into the fight against disease and poverty. So I thought I
would share a few ideas about how we can help researchers from different fields
have an impact on the world’s poorest people.
1. Find ways to apply
technology so it helps the world’s poorest people solve problems.
For the
poorest 2 billion people, progress in the most important areas — which I argue
are health and agriculture — will depend on advances in technology, from
computer science to genetics, materials science, and energy.
For example,
in health, computer-based disease modeling is a big area. I’m optimistic that
we’re going to eradicate polio in the near term, and perhaps malaria and
measles in the mid to long term. To eradicate a disease, we need to understand
how it’s affected by things like weather or the movement of insect populations
(malaria is spread by mosquitoes). A technique called stochastic modeling —
which involves running a lot of computer simulations where you randomize
different variables and study the outcome — is helping us understand the impact
of the various factors so we can get the right mix of tools to fight different
diseases.
There are many
examples from other fields. Geneticists can help develop crops that are more
nutritious, disease-resistant, and drought-tolerant. Someone who’s interested
in finance can help drive innovations such as digital currency that reduce
transaction costs so that poor people can borrow at five percent a year instead
of 15 percent. People with a passion for education can develop software that
models what the student knows, interacts with and encourages her, and helps the
teacher see what she’s been doing.
So there’s a
lot of opportunity. But these advances won’t happen unless bright young people
enter these fields. That brings me to the second priority:
2. Attract more of the world’s
brightest people into technical fields.
We need a
constant stream of new people coming into these fields with fresh energy and
ideas. And it needs to draw from a broad range of people — meaning different
ethnicities, income levels, and countries. After all, no nation has a monopoly
on talent or on the best way of looking at a problem.
I wish rich
countries did more to draw their brightest people into the sciences. We also
need researchers from developing countries, though that’s hard because few of
them have great universities where people can get top training. We need to look
at ways to strengthen those schools through partnerships. We can also expand
opportunities for young people to study in other countries and then return home
to start their careers. And we definitely need to encourage more women to enter
technical fields.
As we bring
more bright young people into the sciences, there’s a third step to making sure
it has an impact for the poorest two billion:
3. Show experts how they can
help solve these problems.
As I said
earlier, several of the researchers I talked to at Microsoft asked how they
could help. Unfortunately, historically the world hasn’t done a very good job
of connecting people with expertise to the biggest problems.
For example, a
big challenge with vaccines is that they spoil if you don’t keep them cold.
This problem has kept a lot of kids from being vaccinated, and it has cost a
lot of lives. There are experts in the science of insulation, but no one had
explained this problem to them. As soon as we did, they started thinking about
how they could help. They got to work on a kind of super Thermos — a way to
keep the vaccines cold without using any energy. It’s in development now.
Scientists
aren’t the only ones who can help solve problems in the poor world. Savvy
people in businesses, non-profits, and governments can find ways to deliver
solutions at scale.
Of course there has to be a financial incentive to draw people
in. Governments and philanthropy can establish grants and prizes. They can also
set up funds to guarantee that there will be a market to pay for advances if
they’re developed. The Gates Foundation has a program called GrandChallenges in Global Health, which is designed to help experts from
various fields see how they can help save lives in the poorest countries.
That’s just one example, though, and the world could use a lot more.
It was great
to connect with all the researchers at the Microsoft conference. I hope some of
them use their talent to help solve some of these challenges. I’m convinced
that getting our brightest minds focused on our biggest problems will save
lives and make the world a more equitable place.
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