Looking at the technological advances that fill our lives and occupy our attention, you might think that innovation is everywhere. That our creative, constructive efforts are being focused not only on our ability to text and instagram each other but also on making the world a better place.
If the world's appetite for smartphones can feed Apple an $18B profit in a single quarter, can't humanity's needs for clean water, housing and disease prevention create an equally compelling need for innovation?
The answer, sadly, is - not yet.
The Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, studied the 50 most critical scientific & technological breakthroughs required for sustainable global development (http://bit.ly/1xQijVz)
In the study, they attempted to identify "where game-changing technologies are most required," and to "Foster a thought-provoking conversation about the role of technology in solving the world's most pressing problems, and focus effort on the breakthroughs that really matter."
The world is waiting. It's waiting for desalinated water. For energy where there is cold and darkness. For better ways to treat and control malaria, one of the world's most prolific killers. And more.
We need more conversation on these problems. And we need to get to work.
A partial list is here. Click the above link to view the full report and list.
- A new method for desalination: scalable, low cost, and using renewable energy.
- Vaccines that can effectively control and eventually help eradicate the major infectious diseases of our time—HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB
- A new generation of homes with advanced construction material, especially for the urban poor: durable, lightweight, and affordable, with integrated solar-powered lighting, ventilation, and toilets
- New methods to produce fertilizers to replace current processes, which are extremely capital intensive and have significant environmental footprints
- A ‘utility-in-a-box’ for making it simpler, cheaper and faster to set up and operate renewable energy mini-grids
- Short course TB treatment drugs that will lead to significant improvements in treatment adherence, and curb the spread of drug resistance
- Micro-biocides to provide a method of protection against HIV/AIDS and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for women who are otherwise vulnerable to infection through sexual contact with their partner
- Improved, longer-lasting antiretroviral therapy (ART) formulations to control HIV viral replication and increase patient adherence
- PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to reduce the risk of HIV infection
- An integrated, easy to operate, affordable, and solar-powered suite of medical devices specifically for maternal, child and primary care in low resource settings
- A complete cure drug for Malaria that eliminates all malarial parasites, at every stage of the life cycle, from the human body
- New long-lasting chemical mosquito repellents delivered in novel ways
- New long-lasting non-chemical spatial mosquito repellents or attractants for vector control
- Low cost off-grid refrigerators for preserving vaccines (and other temperature sensitive
- Thermo-stabilizing mechanisms for preserving vaccines and other temperature sensitive, lifesaving pharmaceuticals so that they do not require refrigeration
- Nutrient-dense and culturally appropriate foods for infants to complement breast milk during the weaning period
- A low cost drilling system for shallow (rain-fed) groundwater wells, combined with portable sensors for measuring groundwater depth. Such systems should reduce the cost of drilling wells to under $100 per farmer in Africa
- Affordable herbicides or other mechanisms to control weeds, ideally ones that are more environmentally friendly than herbicides currently on the market
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