Solving the world’s great challenges
How can we use information technology to improve health care outcomes? How can we make the Internet accessible to people everywhere? How will we provide a secure food supply for 9.6 billion people? These were a few of the challenges posed by MIT’s inaugural Solve conference, which took place last week. The four-day program brought more than 350 leaders in technology, philanthropy, business, and policy to campus for four days of talks, workshops, and discussions on pressing global problems. “It was an extraordinary success, with many memorable moments,” says Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of MIT Technology Review, which produced the program. “A lot of things went amazingly well. I think a lot of people are surprised and pleased, and there is a strong commitment at MIT to coming back next year. It was also an experiment, and Solve II will inevitably evolve from the lessons we’ve learned from Solve I.” The foundational...