Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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On Board With India’s First Solar-Powered Train

Solar Power in IndiaWhile cars may not be able to fly, solar energy can now power trains and this might be the next best thing. On July 14, 2017, India’s first solar-powered train hits the railroad as the country looks to move toward more renewable energy sources.

As a nation, India has long relied on railroad transport to get from one place to another. With 68,000 kilometers of railroad, India is the country with the fifth-greatest capacity for rail transportation. These rails play a critical role in transporting both passengers and cargo around the country.

Railroads account for 85 percent of India’s passenger traffic and 60 percent of its freight capacity. However, railways in India emit a significant amount of carbon dioxide. As a nation, India contributes four percent of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, posing serious environmental challenges.

The DEMU (diesel electric multiple train) that was launched out of the Safdarjung train station in New Delhi is expected to offset these emissions. The DEMU train is significantly more environmentally friendly than previous train models and counteracts carbon emissions by nine tons per coach per year, with a total of six coaches.

The design for the DEMU train was completed by Jakson engineers after they were awarded this project by Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuels, a unit of Indian Railways focused on promoting biodiesel and other alternative fuels for India’s railways.

The solar panels on India’s first solar-powered train have the capacity to power its internal lights, fans, and other electrical systems within the train, generating a total of 7,200 kilowatts per system per year. Additional energy generated during peak hours will be stored in a battery.

Regardless, with India’s expanding economy, it is necessary to address the limitations of current methods of transportation. While a commitment to renewable energy sources like solar power curbs carbon dioxide emissions, India’s current transportation methods pose certain limitations.

Transportation infrastructure is strained and unable to support future economic growth that could help alleviate poverty for many. Trains in India do reach most of the population, but rural areas are often under-served and many of the poor are not connected to India’s main economic centers by road or railway.

While India’s current dependence on rail transportation poses economic and poverty-related problems, the shift toward more environmentally sustainable practices alleviates some of these issues and India’s first solar-powered train is a good step towards this.

– Jennifer Faulkner

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Closing the Gap in Global Education

Closing the Gap in Global EducationDebates about education often center on the quality of public schools, diminishing budgets, scarce resources and technological provisions in the United States. While a focus on domestic educational issues is commendable and necessary, there is a grimmer picture across the world. According to the World Inequality Database on Education, fewer than 50 percent of the poorest children have completed primary school in 39 out of 88 countries. The economic productivity and social quality of life of any country depends on its educated population, and closing the gap in global education is the key to global prosperity, safety and stability.

Indeed, education can eliminate bigger problems such as poverty, inequality, insecurity and disease. Equal access to a quality education, including access to content and means of delivering instruction and following a set curriculum, remains an unrealized dream and a struggle for many.

The last two centuries have seen an exponential increase in the number of children attending primary school globally, from 2.3 million to 700 million today. What is troubling is that children in the poorest households of developing nations, those arguably most in need of educational opportunities, are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the wealthiest households.

It is going to take another 100 years for children in developing countries to reach the education level of their counterparts in developed countries.

Access to a quality education remains a basic building block to success. Current approaches to educational equity necessitate a fundamental rethinking in that they must take into account that many children are unable to go to school because schools simply do not exist in parts of developing countries.

If schools do exist, teachers may lack proper training and simply be incapable of handling the demands of a classroom setting. Furthermore, barriers inherent in certain areas, such as societal demands and expectations, can hamper learning outside the classroom.

Technological tools and resources ignite curiosity and promote more efficient, up-to-date learning. A huge growth in social media platforms can certainly be aligned with classroom activity and curriculum, establishing more innovative ways for students and teachers to learn about global issues.

Though technology makes learning opportunities more widely accessible by decreasing the significance of geographical boundaries, a lack of technological infrastructure means that many children are deprived of the digital educational resources taken for granted in developed nations. For these students, the difficulty of closing the gap in global education comes with an additional cost: loss of productivity.

In 2015, the United Nations heavily promoted the Millennium Development Goals to achieve free universal primary education for all children by the year’s end.

Although it was unfortunate that the pace of improvement by countries could not keep up with the desire to have universal primary education, the primary school net enrollment rate did reach over 90 percent, and the number of out-of-school children fell from 100 million in 2000 to 57 million in 2015 . Movement toward closing the gap in global education is signified by the fact that not a single country in the world today is completely without a schooling system.

Today’s economy is knowledge-based and highly competitive. Schools in developed nations are entrusted with students who lack neither skills nor talents, but educational opportunities.

Some factors are beyond students’ control, such as where they were born and what their financial means are. But with the recent advancements in educational models, global education disparity can meaningfully be addressed and mitigated.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

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Blockchain Technology and Poverty Disruption

Blockchain Technology and PovertySince its conception, blockchain technology has become widely synonymous with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. However, the utility of blockchain comes not necessarily from its manifestation in online currency but the nature of its security and accessibility. These two features are what make blockchain technology and poverty so interlinked. It holds promise as a secure and equalizing tool for the world’s poorest and most rural.

The inner mechanisms and mathematical coding of blockchain are highly complex. The principle is simple. It is a public ledger, stored and spread across multiple networks in countries around the world, making an impermeable information network. The decentralized nature of the data stored on blockchain allows for its application across all sectors without risk of disruption.

Significant to alleviating poverty, blockchain technology’s secure nature allows for it to be used as a financial services platform. In both urban and rural areas of developing countries, banks can be hard to come by, expensive to set up an account in and somewhat unreliable.

Cryptocurrency services can be scaled up and down to be incorporated into everything from the most basic phones to the world’s most sophisticated smartphones. This cryptographic technology would allow its users to send money directly to other individuals without a middleman or “trusted third parties” which take a percentage as a fee for its services and can be largely inaccessible.

Estimates suggest that by 2020 over 70 percent of the world will have access to smartphones. With financial technologies such as blockchain services, there is a real chance for those in rural or economically unstable countries to secure themselves without huge risk. Blockchain technology and poverty could have a progressive and important relationship.

By using cryptocurrencies or internet-money, individuals in financially insecure nations can take steps to avoid financial vulnerabilities, such as fraud or hyperinflation. M-PESA, a mobile money-transfer and micro-loan financing company, operates all across Africa and in parts of central Asia. Numbers from early 2017 suggest that M-PESA’s user base allowed approximately 186,000 families, two percent of Kenyan households, move from poverty into sustainable working conditions.

Blockchain’s financial services allow for mass participation in the most remote parts of the world. A wide range of business owners can build financial credibility. Currently, Chinese pharmaceutical companies receive assistance from Yijan, a blockchain created by IBM and Hejia, a Chinese supply management company.

Significant and notable players on the international landscape are quickly getting involved in blockchain techniques. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Level One Project aims to use digital financial services to bring the impoverished into the formal economic ecosystem, providing them with the tools necessary for financial mobility.

In early 2017, the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) incorporated blockchain technology and cash-based transfers into its humanitarian aid outreach in Pakistan. By using mobile-transfers, the WFP ensured that those in need were receiving financial aid without the risk of the disruption possible with cash-based aid. The technology-based transfers also allowed for the WFP to streamline its tracking system. Since the success in Pakistan, the WFP has chosen to expand blockchain to other humanitarian efforts.

These are a few of blockchain’s many applications. Its reach and potential as a tool for poverty alleviation are great, especially if utilized jointly by governments and NGOs. Although it may be no panacea, the incorporation of blockchain technology may be a significant macro approach in solving the systematic issue of poverty. Blockchain technology and poverty disruption may be one of the most exciting aspects of the new digital age.

– Sydney Nam

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Reducing Poverty with Mobile Phones in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mobile Phones in Sub-Saharan AfricaIn the rural farmlands of Tanzania, a woman is preparing to plant her crops for the season. She is part of the more than 50 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans who use agriculture to survive and feed their families. Her knowledge stems only from experience and word of mouth. In a constantly changing climate, inevitable questions arise. How much fertilizer does she need? She can either waste time walking to find an expert or an agricultural extension officer, or she can go on her mobile phone. 500 miles away, a family in Kenya is terrified that their crops may succumb to the dryness of the land and die, leaving them with nothing to sell or eat. Their mobile phone allows them to research the weather, giving them peace of mind when it says that the rain is coming, or allowing them to plan ahead when it is not. Mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa are already showing their potential.

For these people, a cell phone can mean a world of difference, and it doesn’t end with just agriculture. From education to banking to health, mobile phones opened up to a whole new realm of possibilities for the citizens of developing countries.

The GMSA Mobile Economy 2017 report predicts that mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa will reach half a billion users by 2020. This is more than double the number at the end of 2016, making it the fastest growing region in the world. The report attests the climb in numbers to the increased affordability of mobile devices and the improved market for used devices. In addition to the accessibility of information generated by mobile, the economy benefited as well, supplementing 3.5 million jobs in 2016. Tech start-ups are thriving in a mobile Africa as well. According to GMSA, “some 77 tech start-ups across the region raised just over $366.8 million in funding in 2016, growth of 33 percent compared to the previous year.” The opportunities that mobile platforms allow are attracting both talent and investment, according to GMSA.

Sub-Saharan Africa had 140 mobile money services in 39 countries as of December 2016, giving more and more users easy access to paying their bills online and sending/receiving money between friends and businesses. Zazu is Africa’s first digital-only bank, providing users with a debit card, a point-and-pay feature that utilizes the phone to scan payments with participating merchants and a mobile app to access transactions.

The mobile community provides impoverished people the chance to access financial services to make investments, save money and manage expenses. M-Pesa, for example, is a widely-used money-transferring mobile platform that recently added a savings and credit feature. According to GMSA, the platform lifted 194,000 Kenyan households out of poverty since 2006.

The report notes that there are more than 1,000 mobile health services that target families in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa makes up 25 percent of the global “disease burdened” population but only accounts for three percent of health workers. Living Goods supports health needs in Sub-Saharan Africa via a mobile platform run by trained health professional agents, focusing on child deaths with simple and affordable solutions. The agents use the mobile platform to identify diseases such as malaria and send automatic SMS reminders to the patient ensuring that they complete the whole course of treatment. Pregnant women can sign up to receive weekly messages with advice on maternal health and nutrition according to where they are at in their pregnancy. Living Goods even sells its own brand of food with nutrients and vitamins, often too difficult for people in developing African countries to access.

Mobile technology also allows those in poverty to receive better educations. Eneza Education is a learning platform utilizing mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa, enabling users to communicate with teachers and lesson programs via SMS, the web and Android. Students of all levels can take courses in any subject and interact instantly with teachers via their tablet, computer, or mobile phone. They also offer small business courses and teacher refreshment courses (which is hugely important, considering only about one-quarter of pre-primary teachers are trained in Sub-Saharan Africa). Eneza already has over two million subscribers across Africa and over 300,000 questions have been answered by their live ask-a-teacher feature.

Kytabu, out of Nairobi, allows users to essentially lease required learning and teaching materials (such as textbooks) online through their mobile device. The application provides exams, educational videos, group-chat classrooms, audiobooks and learning games.

Although accessibility to mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa is relatively new, the innovations made so far are a great testament to the technology’s potential. Clearly, the simplest technologies have the power to improve developing countries and make strides towards the elimination of poverty. In a modern world where phones have become grouped with simple technology, they are becoming as much of a right as water filters and electricity.

The things which we take for granted every day hold so much power. Think of what a cell phone can do.

– Katherine Gallagher

Photo: Flickr

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Technology Developed in Asia

Technology Developed in Asia
Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world. The continent has vastly different economies from Japan, Korea and China to Indonesia and India, and habitually brightens the world with its latest innovations, which are about to cultivate promising changes in global poverty fight. It’s widely thought that the most interesting digital market in Asia is actually not the likes of Korea and Japan, but is more China, Indonesia, and India. These are the markets that are really pushing the boundary and innovating the most.

Here are a few examples of new technology developed in Asia that will assist the world of poor:

  1. Life Saving Dot
    According to the World Health Organization, iron deficiency anemia is one of the most widespread nutritional disorders in the world. Millions of women across rural India suffer from breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease and complications during pregnancy and most of these cases are linked to iodine deficiency.In order to fight one of the most common causes of breast cancer, Talwar Bandi in association with Grey Singapore developed Life Saving Dot. A little iodine patch, meant to replace a bindi — a traditional red dot worn on the center of the forehead, commonly by Hindu and Jain women as a celebration of femininity and beauty — and consists of 150-220 micrograms of iodine. This amount is a daily norm for women that dramatically increases chances to prevent breast cancer.

     

  2. Eco Cooler
    Eco Cooler is another revolutionary technology developed in Asia, namely in Bangladesh. It is a cheap and environmentally-friendly zero electricity air cooler developed by Grey Dhaka. The technology uses re-purposed plastic bottles cut in half and put into a grid, in accordance with available window sizes. Depending on wind direction and airflow pressure, the Eco Cooler is decreasing the temperature inside the house. The invention is critical for the country, where the temperature often rises up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer period. 
  3. Vodafone
    About 47% of the labor force in India is involved in agriculture. In April 2016, the Indian government revealed that about 330 million people across the country were affected by drought.Vodafone is rolling out rainwater-harvesting billboards, invented in India and meant to help drought-affected farmers by harvesting rainwater. The billboards store up to 2,000 liters of water in U-curved aluminum sheets that can be distributed to farmers. Water sensor technology alerts collection teams who transport the rainwater to rural farms when tanks are full.
  4. 30-minute Ebola Tests
    Researchers from Nagasaki University in Japan are collaborating with colleagues from Eiken Chemical to develop a 30-minute Ebola virus detection kit. The technology developed in Asia uses short DNA sequences called primers to amplify DNA unique to Ebola. Samples become cloudy if the patient has the Ebola virus. The team is currently working out ways to make its technology available in countries stricken by Ebola. 
  5. RainSprout
    Grey Group Malaysia has developed innovative protection against Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease. The RainSprout locates on a top of an umbrella and uses rainfall to distribute larvicide into the very puddles where mosquitoes can breed. The technology developed in Asia was distributed for free in central Malaysia.The RainSprout works via a replicable patch at the base which is impregnated with a non-toxic larvicide. When rain hits the patch, it mixes with the larvicide and runs off the umbrella into the puddles. Harmless to all other living organisms, the larvicide starves the mosquito larvae before they develop.
  6. Flo
    Mariko Higaki Iwai has designed an affordable solution to improve the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty. She designed a kit that allows girls to wash, dry and carry reusable sanitary pads.Flo will allow girls from Asia and Africa to go to school during their periods, where females often drop out of school due to the absence of sanitary pads and tampons. The innovation promises to improve the situation by helping girls to avoid embarrassment, attend school during the period and prevent reproductive infections and illnesses in the countries where young women were.

Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties and governments. There is much significant progress coming out of this continent to help the world’s poor with new technology developed in Asia.

– Yana Emets

Photo: Flickr

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Huawei Partners With South Africa to Boost Development

HuaweiThis month, Huawei pledged to support the South Africa National Development Plan (NDP) to eliminate global poverty by 2030. Huawei proved their commitment by announcing their partnership with African governments, operators, and private companies towards advancing development. The announcement arrived at the GSMA Mobile 360 Africa Conference in July 2017.

As the leading global Information Communications Technology (ICT) provider, Huawei plans to alleviate global poverty through advancing mobile broadband (MBB). The company intends to collaborate with African operators and lend them their support. Huawei’s goal is to optimize cost of operation, shorten Return of Sales (ROS), and increase site efficiency.

With help from their partners, Huawei aims to “enhance MBB penetration and narrow the digital divide between rural and urban areas.” Doing so will bolster national competitiveness, capacity for innovation and productivity through improving Africa’s national and global connection. The company proposed “Three-Star Site Solutions,” which are various programs that are unique to different scenarios.

Huawei named PoleStar, TubeStar, and RuralStar in particular. Each will overcome a specific obstacle. PoleStar is for urban areas that cannot afford to deploy broadband base stations. For example, technicians can install the program on lampposts and other locations simply and efficiently. RuralStar is useful in rural areas because it decreases power consumption by 85 percent and cost by 70 percent. These solutions will make sites simpler, faster and more cost efficient to access.

Over the next 5 years, the GSMA predicts there will be “720 million smartphones in use and up to 60 percent MBB connections in African markets,” giving Africa a significant economic boost. In addition, expanding MBB will also improve education, healthcare and social development.

Aside from supporting network development in Africa, Huawei also has “identified three business and industry alliances.” The first is content aggregation, which is the collection of information under a specific topic, such as video cloud. Second, they will establish a site ecosystem alliance. Finally, a fiber to the home alliance will provide internet connection to individual buildings.

Mobile broadband is an increasingly important economic and social asset, making its advancement in Africa and other developing regions a priority. With support and collaboration from organizations like Huawei, there is hope that poverty in Africa will disappear by 2030.

– Haley Hurtt

Photo: Flickr

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Chhattisgarh Giving Free Smartphones to the Poor

Free Smartphones to the Poor
Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, has always lacked decent mobile connectivity. Smartphones would be useless in poor communities where there is no wireless coverage. So Chief Minister Raman Singh has been working alongside mobile and electrical companies to expand Chhattisgarh’s network.

In March 2017, Singh announced, while presenting the state budget, a plan to distribute 4.5 million free smartphones to the poor citizens of the state. The annual budget for 2017-18 is up 7.6% from the previous year, providing the state with enough funds to execute its generous plan.

In June 2016, Singh met with state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and urged it to install 1,600 mobile towers throughout the state to increase telecom connectivity. The company agreed to install more than 2,000 towers in two years. These new towers will extend the state’s 27 wifi spots with 220 more.

Singh also began the Bastar Net project last year. Singh wishes to increase mobile and Internet access across the Bastar region, an area that has been hit by recent rebellions. The project will include laying an 832-kilometer optical fiber cable, making a ring-network mechanism. Singh believes that this project will enhance government services in the area along with developing a knowledge-based society in Bastar.

Homegrown technology company Smartron signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chhattisgarh government this month to change the state’s technological infrastructure by manufacturing smart technology. The company is looking to become India’s first original equipment manufacturer, which will bring a boost in manufacturing and jobs in the country. Smartron’s understanding with the Chhattisgarh government will allow it to expand its services in the areas of health, home, education, energy and more.

With an expanded wireless network and an increase in smart technology manufacturing, Chhattisgarh’s goal of providing free smartphones to the poor can be achieved. With new smart technology, the poor could have unlimited internet access and connectivity with the world around them.

– Hannah Kaiser

Photo: Flickr

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A Brief Guide to Activism on YouTube

Activism on YouTube
Most of the millennial generation might remember the splash that “Kony 2012” made on the Internet, a video about Joseph Kony forcing child soldiers to fight his wars for him in Uganda. Regardless of the resulting conduct of the filmmaker, the film was a digital phenomenon, shared from every social media platform known at the time. There’s no mistaking the amount of awareness that the video generated. Kony 2012 was one of the first and most viral examples of activism on YouTube.

While bingeing on Netflix or finding the latest funny videos on YouTube can waste the day away, platforms such as YouTube also provide a unique space for creativity, art and passion that can easily be tied to activism and global issues. Whether it is a specific person or an organization, a YouTube channel can be the means to a movement. Below are some channels to get started with bineging on activism on YouTube:

  • Jacksgap: While this channel isn’t currently active, all of Jack and Finn Harries’ previous videos remain online, detailing their work and travel to support different charities and issues. Their videos showcase a blend of art and activism that is very well done. Jack Harries is currently traveling in Somalia to study the effects of climate change on the impoverished country.
  • The Uncultured Project: Now a charity, this is a channel run by Shawn Ahmed, designed to raise awareness about global poverty, initially while traveling around Bangladesh. He focuses his videos on a problem as well as a solution. Ahmed sends pictures to donors so they can see the direct impact of their donations.
  • Vlogbrothers: Brothers Hank and John Green, the latter being a famous young adult author, achieved their YouTube success with the idea of Nerdfighteria, which fights the stigma of “the nerd.” However, they also created the Project for Awesome, a way for their subscribers to advocate for charities by making their own videos.
  • Engage by Uplift: This channel advocates against sexual violence in all of its different forms. It seeks to educate and raise awareness for the various aspects of the issue and calls its viewers to action in every video. In terms of activism on YouTube, this channel is upfront and consistent.
  • Tyler Oakley: Oakley focuses on LGBTQ activism by working with The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention. Besides its activism on YouTube, his channel includes plenty of fun and light videos as well as collaborations with other users to keep viewers entertained.

While this is certainly not a comprehensive list, this list provides a basic starting point for seeing what activism on YouTube has to offer. Social media is a major part of life in modern society, and these channels have used it to make a change.

– Ellie Ray

Photo: Flickr

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Six Technological Innovations in Healthcare Helping the World’s Poor

Technological Innovations in Healthcare
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in the new big technology or startup that’s coming out of Silicon Valley. But these innovations happening close to home can often obscure the work that’s happening abroad: work that is very often life-saving. Here are 6 technological innovations in healthcare that are helping the world’s poor:

1. TotoHealth

An innovative way to use technology for healthcare, TotoHealth is a way of providing maternal education via text message. The texts remind parents about vaccinations, give advice on family planning and detect warning signs in the pregnancy to alert the parents.

Currently, they have nearly 38,000 enrollees in 6 counties across Kenya. This is an essential technological innovations in healthcare, given that currently in Kenya, 510 mothers out of every 100,000 die in childbirth. TotoHealth is committed to bringing that number down.

2. Gozee

Founded by access.mobile International, a digital health company, Gozee is a sleek, friendly website that connects people in Uganda and Kenya with doctors near them. The website also collects a trove of data, that allows doctors to make quicker, easier, and more accurate diagnoses.

This service is vital in developing countries, where healthcare infrastructure is often severely lacking. Gozee puts the power in the hands of the patient and allows them to take ownership of their care.

3. Vula

In 2014, Dr. Mapham got tired of driving up to eight hours to diagnose patients in rural Swaziland. So he created Vula, a mobile app that streamlines the diagnostic process by connecting primary health care workers, who live in more rural areas, with specialists, who can easily diagnose problems like cataracts.

All the primary healthcare worker needs is a phone with a camera—by snapping a couple of pictures of the patient, the specialist can diagnose the problem and give advice on treatment options. Since 2014, Vula has expanded its diagnostic capabilities to cardiology, orthopedics, burns, HIV, and dermatology. Like many other technological innovations in healthcare, Vula takes commonplace tech most people have and harnesses its power for life-changing results.

4. Project Khuluma

It’s hard navigating life when you’re a teenager. It’s even harder if you’re HIV positive. Project Khuluma, a South African based service set up by the SHM Foundation, is a text-messaging based support group that gives South African HIV-positive teens a safe space to anonymously share concerns, listen to advice, and make lasting friendships.

The project has tangible results, showing decreased levels of anxiety, depression, and internalized stigma in the participants. It also increased knowledge about HIV and the resources available to them.

5. Ambulance Taxi

The maternal mortality rates in Tanzania are among the highest in the world. Vodafone, partnering with Pathfinder International, Touch Foundation and USAID, is working to change that. By setting up a toll-free emergency line similar to 911, Vodafone gives pregnant women suffering medical complications access to quick and potentially lifesaving medical care.

The taxi service is projected to save at least 2,700 lives per year in Tanzania alone. Technological innovations in healthcare such as this one are desperately needed, as they broadly expand access to healthcare for the rural poor.

6. Khushi Baby

India has one of the lowest child vaccination rates in the world, in large part because there is no viable infrastructure to track when babies have been immunized. Richit Nagar and Leen van Besien, two students at Yale, noticed this and discovered an innovative solution. They crafted a necklace similar to the pendant babies are given to protect them from the evil eye, but this necklace records and stores immunization data for the baby.

Health care workers can scan the necklace to view and update the baby’s medical records. Khushi Baby hopes to expand to serve over 300 villages in India, and their necklaces are a prime example of the good that comes when technological innovation in healthcare works within a culture.

It is these kinds of technological innovations in healthcare that empower the global poor and lift them out of poverty. Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right and a foundation for living a safe and secure life. These pioneering technological innovations might not be as flashy as the latest iPhone, but they are drastically more important, and they’re doing vital work.

– Adesuwa Agbonile

Photo: Flickr

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Stanford Researchers Using Artificial Intelligence to Fight Poverty

AI to fight poverty
On September 25, 2015, United Nations member countries adopted a set of goals “to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.” The number one goal to be achieved by 2030 is to eradicate extreme poverty.

Fighting global poverty is a huge battle, and many countries don’t keep data on the frequency and distribution of poverty, which makes it hard to track.

The lack of clear, representative data is what drove students and professors at Stanford University to create the Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence Lab. The lab focuses on many different projects that use artificial intelligence to fight poverty.

Neal Jean, Marshall Burke, Michael Xie, W. Matthew Davis, David B. Lobell and Stefano Ermon started the Predicting Poverty project 18 months ago. The project combines the forces of satellite imagery and machine-learning algorithms to detect places in the world that put off more light at night than others. The Borgen Project had the opportunity to speak with Burke about the work the team is doing.

The logic is that the brighter the lights in an area, the more developed that country is likely to be. Over time, the tracking of “night lights” can give information about where and how extreme poverty is. Using artificial intelligence to fight poverty can also recognize where there are roads, urban areas, waterways, and farmland.

“We are still in the stage of making sure the satellite-based approach works,” Burke said. “We have had great results in five African countries, but still need to know how it works in other countries and whether it can make decent predictions of changes in poverty over time.”

The group has tracked poverty in Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi and Rwanda. The methods used in these countries are inexpensive. By mapping where poverty is most significant, aid organizations can properly distribute help and materials.

Once they have figured out whether the technology can predict changes in poverty, the team hopes to track all of Africa and monitor many other Sustainable Development Goals using technology.

“I think AI could provide some large benefits in regions of the world where we currently have little on-the-ground data about economic well-being — which includes a lot of the developing world,” Burke said. “AI-based approaches can help us measure livelihoods on the ground in these places, and also help us understand which sorts of anti-poverty programs are particularly successful in reducing poverty. “

– Madeline Boeding

Photo: Flickr