Silicon Valley is known for being the home to thousands of startup organizations, including some that have become the most expansive companies in technology. Many startups from Silicon Valley, especially recently, have been focused on combating global poverty. Perhaps this small area can really make a large difference in the long battle against poverty not only locally and nationally, but on a global scale. Indeed, the Silicon Valley has become the number one sector for high technology in the entirety of the United States; it is a true hub for innovation and development as it brings the world into the future.
Silicon Valley has decided to combine the industry of technology with the idea of international development, much like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has attempted to eradicate diseases across the globe since 1994 in addition to fighting global poverty and world hunger. In 2003, the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke directly to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and asked them to focus on international development in order to “bring more…innovation to the developing world.” Bill and Melinda Gates are the most famous Silicon Valley luminaries that have contributed to anti-poverty campaigns, but they certainly are not the only ones. Indeed, many more exist.
For example, Bob King, a Silicon Valley investor, has donated $150 million in order to help create the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, which is an institute that helps those in poverty develop technology and business. Another example of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur is the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, and the former U.S. State Department official, Jared Cohen, who together created “Google Ideas.” Google Ideas was created to connect people across the web to start new research and technology-based initiatives.
Other startups have also begun to appear within the confines of Silicon Valley. These startups include Nuru International, CommCare, and an initiative called One Laptop Per Child. Nuru International is a non-profit organization that aims to end global poverty but through an innovative lens. Nuru International wants to create an integrated development model that is self-sustaining and self-scaling; it does not want a temporary solution to the problems of poverty but instead a permanent solution that will be globally sustainable. Nuru International is supported by “angel investors” within Silicon Valley.
CommCare’s motto is “job aid for mobile workforces.” Basically, CommCare has a mobile health app that will allow medicine to be brought to rural India through mobile phones – it is still in its beginning phases. Finally, One Laptop Per Child is a program that attempts to get a laptop for every single child across the globe, and is funded by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs (such as Google and eBay).
There are thousands of startups within Silicon Valley and more will certainly begin to appear as time passes. Although it is unreasonable to believe Silicon Valley could single-handedly end global poverty, the technological innovations being created are certainly making an incredible dent. Hopefully,the inspiring Silicon Valley will also convince other parts of the United States, and indeed the world, to continue the anti-poverty fight with gusto and to continue to support and found startups that fight global poverty.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: Policy Mic, Foreign Policy, NY Times
Photo: Gabriel Weinberg