Universities can lead in development, USAID head says during MIT visit
Dr. Rajiv Shah, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said this week that the kind of work being done at places such as MIT “is transforming the world of development.”The agency has shifted its focus from providing money to support existing food and medical relief efforts, to focusing increasingly on innovative approaches and technological advances that can lead to significant, rapid changes in health and prosperity in some of the world’s poorest countries, he said. And he cited innovations developed through programs like MIT’s D-Lab — created by senior lecturer Amy Smith — and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship’s fellowship program as examples of the kind of things that are needed to make a dramatic difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people.USAID was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. Shah, appointed in 2009 by...