What we can solve
MIT’s inaugural Solve conference opened with a splash on Monday, as a diverse group of technologists, entrepreneurs, and experts hailed the importance of addressing our most urgent global problems. “At MIT, we want to do good for the world,” President L. Rafael Reif said in his opening remarks at the event’s convocation, adding that the Institute has a “culture of real-world problem-solving.” “With Solve, we want to accelerate positive change,” Reif emphasized. The Solve conference is a multidisciplinary four-day event examining major challenges in health care, energy, the environment, food and water supply, education, civil infrastructure, and the economy, with attendees from over 30 countries. Reif was followed on stage at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium by Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of MIT Technology Review, which has helped organize the event. As Pontin observed, the kinds of problems being discussed at Solve are currently matters of well-being and resources, but could worsen significantly by mid-century,...