Solving Social Problems with Tech
Technology has always been instrumental in solving problems and ensuring the well-being in the society. In the first half of the 20th century a massive amount of new technologies that improved the quality of life emerged. E.g. Assembly Line (1901), Airplane(1903), Medication and Vaccines like Penicillin(1928 ), Polio vaccine (1921), Small Pox elimination 1986–1979. All of these technological advancements positively influenced the quality of life in terms of life expectancy.
This graph shows an increase in life expectancy measured by region from 1770 to 2018 with a visible spike in the 1900s when there was a noticeable rise in technological advancement. This further proves the importance of technology in the development and survival of our society.
What defines a social problem?
A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. This definition has both an objective component and a subjective component.
Some commonly faced problems in society today are overpopulation, food scarcity/starvation, security/crime, diseases. Below are 2 modern organizations with the mission to solve some them.
Earth Enable : Changing lives by changing floors
A group of students from Stanford University set up an organization in Rwanda called Earth Enable with the aim of improving the health of low-income families by replacing dirt floors with affordable earthen floors. In Rwanda the dirt floors in many homes was a source of pathogens and parasites and became a cause of diarrhea. These students conducted research and found a study in Mexico that reduced the incidence of diarrhea by 49% and parasites by 48% when dirt floors were replaced with concrete floors. However, as a developing nation Rwanda required a more affordable alternative to hard hood floors. The students found an old technology called earthen floors that uses clay and oil but is equal to a concrete floor in reducing the incidence of diarrhea. According to their reports, 61% of their customers reported improved health and 19% were able save money on healthcare costs in the first 30 days.
Farmz2u : Enabling end to end food sustainability:
Since 2019 Farmz2U has been a driving force in improving food sustainability and agricultural productivity in Africa by helping smallholder farmers improve the quality of food produced through sustainable farming while ensuring produce is distributed and made readily available to consumers.
Healthy organic foods are more expensive and not readily available in comparison to processed food, fast food and junk food. As a result of this scarcity consumer decision are usually based on price, convenience and taste rather than food that is safe and healthy that our body actually needs.
Farmz2U is fostering sustainable farming by empowering the next generation of Sub Saharan African farmers with data and technology by providing a one stop shop where farmers can apply for affordable loans, purchase high-quality inputs farming materials, and a ready market. Meaningful data on crops, best farming practice and a marketplace to distribute their products directly to consumers.
Using Technology for Ease and Convenience
You can’t really put a price on convenience. Activities that were once draining, cumbersome and time consuming are now mundane activities in comparison to how technology allows us to accomplish them today. Imagine having to walk from your home to the main road everyday before you can get a taxi to your destination, ride hailing apps like Uber have made it easier and convenient.
The company Uber leverages existing technologies like GPS location, the internet, maps, mobile devices etc in an innovative way to provide taxi services, create jobs for drivers and make transportation and delivery more convenient.
Conclusion
There was the time when technological innovation required a huge sum of capital going into research and development which is not necessarily the case now. Today in the digital world the internet gives access to data and connectivity which can be leveraged to solve social problems with very little relative overhead costs. For instance, Uber took on the transportation problem by providing a system that connects a network of drivers and riders using their app.
we can easily identify at least 3 of distinct ways in which we can utilize technology to solve problems.
Research and innovation:
By putting in the time and resources into research and development especially in the STEM fields to invent solutions.
Utilizing data and automation:
Data is a very powerful tool and valuable currency and it can be applied with machine learning for predictive analysis and farming educational purposes to yield the best outcome. Manual tasks can also be automated with technology to improve efficiency and productivity.
Leveraging on existing Technologies:
With the use of modern tools and machines, we are now many times more productive and efficient in our work. For example a mind blowing fact is that your smartphone today is millions of times more powerful than the Apollo 11 guidance computers that was used to send the first man to the moon.
I challenge you today to think of a local business near your find out which of the above methods can be used to improve its efficiency or to solve a social problem close to you.
